'Tis The Season

Some of us are so very lucky to know them, our lives blessed simply because we were able to cross paths, or if we're really lucky, were able to spend time with them, never the same after meeting them. 

Enter: Leroy Rutland. 

Leroy Rutland was a devoted husband, a loving father to his five children (one son, four daughters!), and a kind and supportive grandfather, including to the most important man in my life, my hub.

Mr. Rutland spent his life serving others through a number of endeavors but was especially passionate about giving back to his local community of Aiken, South Carolina, through an organization called ACTS (Area Churches Together Serving). Since his unexpected passing in December 2006, we have come together as a family to honor him each year by doing what he loved best: giving back to others. 

This year marks the eighth year our family is coming together to raise money and provide Thanksgiving meals for families in need in the Aiken community. We have really raised the stakes year, with hopes of providing complete Thanksgiving dinners to more than 80 different families by raising $3,250. 

I know this is a crazy, busy time of year, and also an expensive time of year, but it is also my favorite: not only does it allow for more family time and memory making, but it serves as a time that strongly encourages us to give back to others who are less fortunate. Our family chooses to do that in a way that honors the legacy of a man who has changed our lives forever, in the best possible way: by providing love, support, encouragement, and joy to those around us.

I would absolutely LOVE if you could donate even a small amount to this worthy cause that is so very close to my heart. I know people always say "even a small donation will help," But honestly? Even a small donation will help. :) Find $5 in your washing machine? Throw it in! No need for Starbucks today? We'll gladly take those PSL funds. 

If nothing else, please just take a moment to visit the fundraising page my sweet hub set up this year and consider passing it on to others who may also want to help:

http://www.youcaring.com/nonprofits/8th-annual-lw-rutland-thanksgiving-food-drive/247367

From my family's heart to yours, thank you, thank you, thank you. It means the world to us. 

And also? Let the holiday season of giving begin!!! <3

Five On Friday: Finally! Edition

This Friday has been a looooong time coming, and I am so excited it's here for one very important reason...stay tuned...(cliffhanger). But. First, the first Four of my Five on this festive Fall Friday (#alliterationallstar):

[ONE].

Earlier this week, Harrison and I accompanied Raleigh and her classmates on her first ever field trip. We visited our local greenway, which is the same place that hosts our town's weekend Fall Frolic I mentioned in my last post. We had so much fun learning about corn, reptiles and mammals, going on a tractor ride, picking a new pumpkin from the patch, and going through hay and corn mazes. It was so precious to see all the kiddos in their field trip tees and meet their mommas as well as spend some more time with Raleigh's sweet teachers. We had an absolute blast, and Harrison was a dream the entire morning!

[TWO].
Speaking of field trips, Raleigh, Harrison, and I will be joining Banks on his first field trip of the year this morning! We are headed to  the Bush-n-Vine farm, where I am told we will tour the farm, learn about beavers, observe a working beehive, and tour the pumpkin patch. Sounds random but fun. Ha! What a special week for my little students. :) 

[THREE]. 
The other day, Harrison and I were playing in the playroom while his big brother and sister napped. One minute, he was doing this: 

The next minute, he did this:

Yep--he popped up on all fours! Say whaaaaaaat?!? I immediately gave him a talking-to about how I am not ready for him to grow up and am certainly not ready for him to get any mobility ideas in his head. Slow down, my precious boy. Slow. Down.

[FOUR].
My hub was gone from early Tuesday morning until late last night. So. While I am a leeeetle tired today, the kiddos and I still managed to squeeze in lots of fun together this week. Two of my favorite moments? Painting pumpkins and enjoying some scrumptious local pumpkin ice cream at the farm stand right outside our 'hood. And yes, it's as good as it sounds. 

[FIVE].
So. The reason this Friday has been a long time coming? Because I finally get to spend an entire weekend with my beautiful, absolutely perfect new niece, Skylar. Although I was so lucky to be able to be at the hospital the day she was born, and hold her within hours of her birth, I haven't been able to see her since then, and she is over 2 months old. 

It has been killing me to be away from her. So. You can bet your bottom dollar I'll be snuggling her all weekend!! While my hub and Banks will be headed to Clemson with my brother to cheer on our beloved Tigers, my sister, brother-in-law, and niece as well as Raleigh, Harrison, and I will be football watchin', baby holdin', and Fall fun havin' here in the Mill. My little fam will close out the weekend by having some delicious, homemade gumbo with neighborhood friends Sunday evening. Sounds pretty much like a dream weekend to me! 

Hope yours is equally as dreamy! Have a great one, Go Tigers!, and see you next week. Oh, and HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY to my precious niece, Cameron. We love you so!!! <3

Happy Fall, Y'all

It is definitely Fall 'round these Southern parts, with the temperatures fluctuating between the 50s in the mornings and the 80s in the afternoons. Ha! We are sloooowly starting to Fall-ify our home. And also? Banks has now reached the age where he is INSISTENT on Halloween decorations in our yard. So. I grabbed a few things from Target the other day, but he has now indicated that we need to add some spider webs and "giant spiders" before we are done. So. Back to Target we go (like I really need an excuse to visit the Red Land of All Things Good). Here are a few of the festive touches we've added so far:

A fun little centerpiece I put together when we hosted our Life Group the other night. 

How great is the monogrammed glitter pumpkin I quickly and easily crafted thanks to some help from my friend, Sara? She cut out a double-sided sticky "L" using her Silhouette and sent it to me, with instructions to adhere to the white pumpkin (from Michaels, currently 50% off!) and then cover with gold glitter. Voila! 

Some festive mums as well as the start of our pumpkin collection, which is (literally) growing by the day. I think we're up to seven at this point. Those steps will be covered in pumpkins at this rate. 

I purchased that ombre wreath from etsy years ago and love pulling it out each Fall! And those bats were quick and easy decor from, where else, Tar-jay, along with...

...our creepy eyes...

...and our mini graveyard (three more flank the other side of the walkway). 

And side bar: I spent some time at Lowe's a couple weeks ago, speaking extensively with a gardening specialist about what to plant and how NOT to kill our window box flowers. Here's hoping they survive! So far, so good.

Yep, we are welcoming Fall with open arms and have created our seasonal bucket list: 

So far we can cross three things off our list, as our little family visited our town's Fall Frolic to close out the weekend, where we boarded a hayride to visit the pumpkin patch and then spent the rest of the afternoon there riding horses, venturing through the corn maze, petting animals in the petting zoo, eating local BBQ, and more. 

 (Yes, sweet horse trainer, you're still in the picture...)  :) 

So, welcome, Fall 2014. We have big things in store for you!

Five On Friday: Parents on the Loose! Edition

I have just felt so worn out lately!! So. Needless to say, I am very happy to see the weekend arrive. And this one? Well, it looks to be a good one...as in, look out, parents are kid-free and on the loose! So, before I hit the road, here's my Five for this Friday:

[ONE].

In case it wasn't obvious by the amount I mentioned it over the last few weeks, my first born, my buddy, my sunshine, my Banks, turned 5 on Monday! We had a great time last weekend ringing in the big 0-5, including a Momma date that started with breakfast and ended with a haircut, a (last minute!) family trip to the Clemson game (yep! We all went despite the 7:00 pm game time!)...

...not to mention a visit from Bammy, and a special day doing anything and everything Banks wanted on his actual birthday. We kept him home from school so we could spoil him all day (driving his new Fisher Price dune buggy! Board games! Playdoh! Halloween crafts! Ice cream for lunch! No naps! New movie!) and ended the day by celebrating our big guy with cake and birthday singing at our LifeGroup. 

 

All in all, I think it was a pretty awesome celebration for our Banks: 

[TWO].
Raleigh, Harrison, and I have been having a jolly good time with our weekly playdate group lately. This week, we headed to Hall Family Farm, one of my favorite places to visit once the leaves start changing and the temperatures start dropping. Think pumpkin patch, corn maze, hayrides, fresh jellies/jams/breads/funnel cakes (yes! funnel cakes!), a real firetruck with a built-on pipe slide, and TONS of toys for the kiddos to play with. And did I mention most of it is free?!? Amazing! Although the temps weren't quite as Fall-errific as I would have liked, we still had a great time with our friends. 

[THREE].
Speaking of Raleigh (again), her class hosted "Donuts for Dad" yesterday. And y'all, my sweet, sweet hubby decided it was very important to him that he be there, despite being in California on business this week. So. He booked a red-eye flight just so that he could get back in time to attend "Donuts for Dad" with his daughter. What an awesome daddy. Man, my kiddos are lucky. <3 

And Raleigh also had her first ever school pictures yesterday. What a big day for our little girl!

[FOUR].

This little boy. I adoooooore him. That is all.

[FIVE].
My hub and I are headed out for the weekend!! As soon as the 2014 Clemson football schedule was released, a group of my BFFs and I quickly selected a weekend date for us to bring the hubbies but leave the kiddos behind as we re-lived our ol' glory days. This means, there will be six couples, no kids, and a rockin' Tiger Town this weekend. Woot! Go Tigers! And see you in a couple hours, ladies!!! 

Have a great weekend, friends!

Five.

You're the chip to my chocolate.

You're the berry to my blue.

You're the ground to my play.

You're the string to my shoe.

You're the bow to my rain.

You're the saw to my see.

You're the ball to my basket.

You're the cup to my tea.

You're the ship to my friend.

You're the case to my stair.

You're the shake to my milk.

You're the port to my air.



You're the shine to my sun.

You're the bone to my wish.

You're the hopper to my grass.

You're the gold to my fish.



You're the walk to my side.
You're the work to my art. 
You're the beam to my moon.
You're the beat to my heart. 

Happy One-Whole-Hand to the one who made me a Momma, my sunshine, my favorite little boy in the whole wide world.

With All My Heart, 

Momma

Five On Friday: Welcome, Fall! Edition

F-R-I-D-A-Y!!!!!! 

Once again, this has been a jam-packed week so I am so very happy to see Friday again. So. Here's my Friday Five:

[ONE].
I am so uber-super-duper proud of my Raleigh Jane. As I mentioned in a recent post, she started off strong when first going to preschool but has struggled the last couple weeks, becoming quite tearful (read: sob-filled) during drop-offs and for the first portion of the school day. But not this week. No siree Bob. She rocked it this week. Maybe it's because her Daddy helped with drop-offs. Maybe it's because she had a brand new Elsa doll hidden in her bookbag. Whatever it was? It made all the difference. I'm so proud of my girl for being brave even when she felt scared. 

[TWO].
So....this is a little crazy...but my littlest fella worked as a Buy Buy Baby model earlier this week! It all started when a friend of a friend, who models for a Charlotte-area modeling agency, sent out information that Buy Buy Baby was looking for models for an upcoming shoot. Well, my friend sent me the information, and at her recommendation, I submitted a few photos of Harrison to the agency. Well, lo and behold, Buy Buy Baby selected him! So, he and I traveled to High Point, North Carolina, one morning for the shoot, and he did GREAT!!! He slept the whole way there, and then I nursed him as soon as we arrived; so, he was full, rested, and happy as could be. He delivered smile after smile and giggle after giggle and just did such an awesome job. It'll be a few weeks before we find out if they end up selecting his photos (he modeled a diaper changing pad), but even if they don't, it made for a fun morning with my littlest guy! The photographer was so nice and sent me a few of his favorite shots. Although I'm not sure I'm allowed to share them publically, I can share a few he snapped of Harrison and me after the shoot was over. :) 

Oh, and side note: Later that day, I got my hair into the Fall spirit, with a glorious 2.5-hour solo trip to the salon. Good-bye Summer highlights (above). Hello Fall lowlights (below)!

And yes, I realized I look pissed. This was a I'm-tired-but-yes-sister-Jess-I'll-send-you-my-new-hair selfie.

 

[THREE].Anywho. Speaking of Harrision, my baby turned 5 months old yesterday. Noooo!!! Say it ain't so!!!! I just can't believe it. But y'all. As if it's possible, he steals more and more of my heart every day. My hub and I always say, "He's just happy to be here." As long as he's not sitting in the carpool line or restrained for too long in his carseat (this kiddo is a mover and a shaker! Loves to be moving!), he is just as happy as can be. 

Although I don't have official height/weight numbers since he won't go back to the pediatrician until next month, he is definitely outgrowing his clothes at lightening speed! He is also a good nurser and started solids over the last month, too, which he is rocking! Aside from prunes, he has loved every fruit and veggies we've offered (and seriously--who really enjoys prunes?!). Currently, he usually takes 3-4 naps per day: one/two cat-naps in the morning, a 1.5-2 hour nap in the afternoon, and a short cat nap before bedtime. He is in bed asleep at 8:00 pm every night after one last nursing session and then is up for the day 10 to 12 hours later. A little more on our little guy:

[FOUR].

Yes, I realize it's still September. But. Halloween is right around the corner. One of the ways I help myself minimize my own stress is by trying to do things well in advance. It started in college, continued through grad school, and now dictates how I organize myself in adulthood. All that to say, my kiddos' Halloween costumes are ready already and hanging in their closets. I cannot WAIT to dress them up in their costumes! I've said many a time before, my favorite social media day is Halloween because there is just nothing cuter than kids in costumes. Just over a month to go...

[FIVE].
Well, originally, we had big plans to take all three kiddos to the Clemson game tomorrow. But. Then, the game time was announced...7:00 pm (seriously?! A 1-2 Clemson team versus UNC?!). So. Those plans went right out the window. However, my hub is still going to head to Tiger Town with our almost-5-year-old, since this is Banks' weekend-before-his-birthday and all. 

Meanwhile, I'll hang back with my two youngins' and have lots of youngin' fun 'round these parts (not sure why this paragraph suddenly turned all country). We'll also be kicking off the weekend with a fun cookout with some neighborhood friends tonight and concluding it with a visit from my own Momma on Sunday (WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS TODAY!!! Happy Birthday to the greatest mama there is. Love you so much!!!). Yeehaw! 

Y'all have a good one, too, ya hear? :)