TWO!!!!!!!!

So...we officially have a TWO YEAR OLD!!  Last weekend, we celebrated Stafford's 2nd birthday and had a flag-wavin' good time!  As you probably recall, my little one is O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D with the American flag.  We aren't really sure where this came from BUT we love that he's so patriotic! He can literally find/pick out/holler for/see a flag from miles and miles away.  Loves a flag.  So, we decided to have a flag-themed birthday party!  DUH!

The celebration began on Friday with Sis arriving and then on to dinner at Chuck E. Cheese.  This was Stafford's second visit to Chuck E. so he was still a little unsure of all of the chaos fun.   He did like throwing those skee balls all over the place though...oops! Saturday afternoon brought the arrival of everyone else (cousins, aunts, uncles, great uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents)...all here and ready to party!  We decided to do family-only party again this year since Stafford is so young but even with just family, we had a packed house!!  We LOVE our big family! Lots of football watching, eating, opening presents, visiting and playing took place so he truly had a blowout birthday.  Happy Birthday sweet boy...we love you more than we could ever tell you in a lifetime!

PS: MAJOR thanks to 29:11 Creations (for his precious invitation), Angela Wallace (for the cutest cake ever) and Patycake Kids (for his adorable party outfit).  Y'all are THE BEST!

 

A Visit to the Low Country

Well, that was fast! Our Labor Day weekend/Charleston vacay came and went a little too quickly for my liking BUT my aching muscles and overall tiredness tell me that we had a great time...and we did!  We took Stafford on his first flight, celebrated my cousin's wedding, toured Folly Beach, ate ourselves silly, had a private boat tour of the Charleston Harbor (thanks to cousin Sam!), toured Charleston via horse/carriage and celebrated my dad's birthday.  It was a jam-packed four days but I wouldn't have had it any other way!  It was so great to visit with my family, both immediate and extended, that I didn't want the long weekend to end.  I rarely get to see my aunt, uncle and cousins (since they do live kinda far away) so it was extra special being able to spend our days with them...we promise to come back soon! :)

family photo at The Island House

reception site

my first cute date

my second cute date

Folly Beach, SC

the edge of america

toes in the water, toes in the sand

Fort Sumter

Charleston carriage tour

heading home...with the cheetos

Around Town (eating, mostly)

From the looks of these pictures that I've posted...all we do is E-A-T! Which, btw, wouldn't be too far from the truth.  It seems like most of our outings these days revolve around lunch and dinner...safe to say that we like to eat at our house!  I love these slow summer months because that means weekends at home, visiting with family and just playing around town.  They also mean spending lots of $$$ because I tend to want to "get out of the house" by eating out (EVERY MEAL) and shopping.  It's hard not to shop around here...Jackson has such great places to go and I definitely need it all, right?!

best dinner date ever

getting ready to swim

checking out those chips

 

we love McD's!

We Won The Day

Last weekend, my mom and I attended our first ever Ole Miss Ladies Football Forum and let me just say...SO DANG FUN!!  I have no idea WHY I'm just now going to this (they've been doing it for 15 years!) but it was one of the most fun things that I've done in a long time.  We were able to see the amazing facilities, learn a little about football, shop and meet the coaches and staff.  I HIGHLY recommend this event...it is truly fabulous! This football program is doing great things with great people.  I was super impressed by the comraderie and sense of family that I got from listening to these folks. If you aren't already proud to be an Ole Miss Rebel, you certainly will be after attending this forum.  JUST DO IT!



Rebel football

our day

THE coach

my precious friend, Macy

I Spy With My Little Eyes...

something different...hmm, what could it be?!!  :) 

 then & now

Beachin' Weather

This time last week, the Stacy/Stafford families were on vacation!  How come the weeks pass by so quickly when you're on vacation? Has anyone figured this out yet?!  Although the weather wasn't the best, we still had a great time!  As my dad says, "A bad day at the beach beats a good day at the office" and I must say...I agree!!  Since we go to Orange Beach every summer, we tend to be creatures of habit and eat at the same places every time.  This trip, we shook it up a little bit and ate somewhere different!  I was SO PROUD of us...really.  My boss told me about this great little place they ate at on one of their trips so we decided to try it out.  And, if you haven't been to The Gulf, you really must go! It was such a laid-back, great place and we loved trying something new for once!  Of course, we had to stick to our tried-and-true Louisiana Lagniappe (it was my birthday dinner!) and our little hole-in-the-strip-mall-wall Mexican place...we couldn't give those two up.  I even broke down and agreed to have a "shrimp boil" of sorts (I'm not a boiled shrimp kind of girl) but it was fun anyway!

Because the weather wasn't ideal (i.e. rainy, cloudy, windy and even kinda cold) for a few days of our vacay, we headed to The Wharf and the outlet mall to check things out.  Being that it was Fourth of July week (ahem, MY birthday week), traffic was awful, horrible, no good, very bad.  Though I absolutely loved spending my birthday with my family, I must say that I don't think we will go back on this week in the future.  My goodness!  Spending two hours in the car, with an almost two year old, is not fun...especially when the trip should take about 20 minutes!!

Overall, we had fun.  Despite the cloudy, rainy weather, I did get a little bit of a tan/sunburn so I feel like it was a success on that front.  I was able to get in a few shopping sprees.  I ate myself into ridiculousness.  And, spending six days with my family is always a plus! 
 

dinner with my man

stafford, honey and papa

ready for the pool

rocks rocks rocks

checking out the yachts

being silly with sis

a few of my favorite people

 

our little family

Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday dear Reedy and Lyn...Happy Birthday to you!  We are officially and firmly cemented in our early thirties...YIKES! A few Sundays ago (oops,a little behind) Reed and I celebrated our birthdays at family dinner with a joint birthday cake...thanks Suz! Happy Birthday to us...we're old!



we're 32, y'all!!