Christmas Tree Shopping

We ventured out for our annual tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree at the Penland Tree Farm in York, SC. It was brisk, rainy, muddy, dreary but somewhat warmer than what we normally encounter during this annual tradition.

We decided that if we are to make this farm our "go to" place for our tree, we should start taking Roman's picture in front of the snowman every year to mark his growth from year to year.
Mulch mountain was a new attraction this year. Not sure I saw one girl playing on this hill, but the boys sure did take it over. Roman wasn't so sure about this until we took him to the top of it, and then it was his new found hill to conquer. Up and down and all around we went.


Roman's class face (below)... don't get offended if this is all you get when you smile and say hello. He gives this face to EVERYONE!

Roman's fascination of fire made me think he may just take after Uncle Boyd- Mr. Pyromaniac. He is mesmerized by it and you can see his brain churning with devious plans.
Roman likes to pave his own way from point A to point B...exploring as he goes. Daddy and Roman inspecting the trees below and Maggie doing what she does best- picking up scents.


Mulch Mountain came in a distant third to Roman's other attractions he found at the tree farm. One being MUD- and maybe the one that came in at the top of his list. The huge mud puddle from the morning rain, was where he chose to spend most of his time- and well he couldn't have been happier. My 100% boy!! you'd think by now I would learn not to leave home without a change of clothes.
He had to make sure EVERY part of him was covered in mud. He laid out in it and wiggled like a worm.



Katie Williams joined us on our annual tradition. She has been coming with us for the past 3-4 years. It wouldn't be the same without her..and she saves our hide by watching Roman when things get chaotic!
Roman loved the tractors- just like his PaPa!! This was his other attraction and probably second favorite to the mud. He enjoyed watching the tractor ride filled with people waving at him while he stared at them with his serious face (seen above).


We decided this year to get a balled tree - a tree with its roots to be planted after the holidays It was a great idea until we saw the man power that it took to get it into position in our living room. We bought a $6 bucket from Big Lots that seemed promising to hold the root ball. But as you can see below, it took some reshaping of the roots to get it to fit into the bucket.

Ah hah- we did it!! Got it in. But weighing over 300 lbs- now we had to get it into the house. We cashed in some favors a friend owed us, to get some much needed man power moving the tree into the house.
Lots of grunting, groaning and a large crack in the bucket, later- we got the tree in place. One more trip to Big lots for another $6 bucket and hopefully the last time we have to move the tree resulted in a 2 bucket base and a well placed HEAVY tree!

Now if it can survive the trauma of all that and a month of cat, dog and child torture, it will be a great addition to our front yard. Matt may as well start digging the hole now as we live on "stone mountain" and it will take a month to build a hole big enough to plant this tree.

Tomorrow we will dress the tree- enough torture for today! Pictures to post soon.

Sewing Projects

These are my current sewing projects. Pacifier clips is what started it all.
I was inspired to make them after seeing the poor selections on the market and the simple sewing technique it took to make them. So I have stocked up on different varieties of Pacifier clips and the ones below are just a few of the designs. If you know anyone who wants some, please let me know. They'd sell for $5 each.
My newest project is the dog collar and the one I am most proud of. I really liked how it turned out and looking forward to making this an extension to my S3 consulting and training business.
I am hoping to get the cost down on these by buying the hardware in bulk so we'll see but for now costing between $10-15 per collar.




I have another project that I am going to start taking on but waiting for the equipment to come in the mail. Once I receive it, I will get them made and post pictures.

The stinky Skunk Debut!

The stinky skunk made his debut this evening! He did a great job keeping the costume on and even managed to wear his stink face the entire night as well. So overall he made the perfect skunk, bad mood and all! But a super cute skunk he made!!

the funniest part was that we were at a Fall Festival with the college kids and there was a young girl a little older than Roman who wasn't dressed up and she just stood there pointing and laughing at him. she was like "ha ha, your mom made you dress up!" He was such a great sport! Love this little guy!

Train Table

Adam and Jack grew out of the train table and Renee was trying to purge her apartment and so Papa's infamous train table has made it into Roman's new playroom. It came via Renee's friend who lives in northern NC who visited NYC last month and was kind enough to haul the train table down south. I drove to Greensboro last night to pick it up from them.

it is his early Christmas present :) But was easier to put together now than to store til Christmas. Renee sent along Thomas the train set for the table but waiting for Roman to get a little older before I let him loose on the actual train set as he is quick to destroy everything he touches.

It is the perfect height for him and Maggie. Maggie is very interested in his plastic zoo creature that he is playing with.


Proud of papa's handiwork and glad that it is kept in the family. Papa's date on the table was from 2003!!

Roman's Birthday Weekend

On Wednesday October 6th, Roman turned 1 year old!! He was quite ginger and unsure about the presents which I venture to guess will change as he gets older. But this birthday we had to do more of the unwrapping and the oohs and aahs for him as he found the remote control more exciting!

Daddy got us a pocket size video camera to document his birthday events. He enjoyed playing with the AV cables instead.


His birthday bash was on Saturday October 9th where we offered him his small birthday cake. We had to help him realize that the goo on top of the cake was really delicious and worth eating.

he gave up the use of his hands to just dive into his cake and thoroughly get himself covered in cake and icing from head to toe.
Nanny and Annie (Matt's mother and sister) Came into town for this memorable occasion. They made the weekend even more special. on Sunday we went to the nearby Pumpkin Patch to pick out a pumpkin and see the farm animals.



roman checking out the hens...and started crying at them.
A giant rabbit with a black stripe down its back housed in a pen with some roosters.
They grow their own pumpkins and pick them daily. Below are the containers of pumpkins that have been harvested and ready to be sold.
the resident pigs rooting in the mud.
we ventured out to the pumpkin patch to pick our own pumpkin and let Roman find the one he wanted. That only resulted in him playing in the dirt and tripping over vines.
Roman making his dad proud by demonstrating proper dead lift form!





Above is Nanny, Matt and Annie!
Family photo. trying to get roman to look at the camera is a feat- he hasn't learned the art of "cheese".
Roman striking a pose...my little Ambercrombie model!

Nanny and Roman playing in the trees!

We are so blessed that Nanny and Annie were able to come into town for his occasion. It really did make it so special. We had a group of wonderful friends who took time out of their days to spend time with us for Roman's birthday and we couldn't have asked for a better weekend. Next stop- holidays in TX and MO.