Just in case

A friend of mine, Anne, was blessed with her second baby, a sweet baby girl not too long ago.  She has some important information on her last blog post regarding signs and symptoms (that they caught early enough so that her precious newborn could be saved) that you CANNOT take lightly.  PLEASE take a moment and read Anne Says So.

Her Link

~Kathy

Breakfast, it's what's for dinner

In our house, we LOVE to have breakfast for dinner.  There's just something about it!  We usually do pancakes, bacon and eggs.  About a year ago I finally discovered how easy, delicious and inexpensive REAL pancakes are.  I wanted to add something to the pancakes to make them a little better for us.  So, we now use whole wheat flour and I add in flaxseed meal.

the secret ingredients

the yummy ingredients :)

Mmmmm hmmm

Ingredients:

1c whole wheat flour

2tbsp flaxseed meal (use as little or as much as you want)

1tbsp sugar

1tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

a couple shakes of salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon (the amount is up to you)

1 egg

1c sour milk (which is just a tbsp of vinegar then add milk to make 1c)

2tbsp cooking oil

We add the chocolate chips once the batter has been poured onto the griddle.  

They're delicious and a little healthier :).  Enjoy!

~Kathy

Legally Blonde

A bottle blonde walks into a bar salon... and the rest of the story goes a little something like this, "that'll be $140."  And that doesn't include the tip.  And if you're in a big city, just tack on another $100.  Ouch.  If you get highlights/color and your haircut, you've been there, too.  Unless, of course, you have a knack for impeccable self-highlighting and trimming.  I do not.  I've been known to cut my own bangs (when I had them 15 years ago) so short you would have thought I stood in front of a candle too long.

rewind to a few weeks ago...

I was out to dinner with some mom friends to have a bottle glass of wine at Miyos before we had our thrill of watching Channing Tatum dance like I don't know what, when one of the girls said she was going to Paul Mitchell the School to get her hair done that week.  She had gone before and had highlights and a cut and it was around $75.  It doesn't take this mom long to do that math in her head... almost half of what I had been spending.  I decided THEN that I was going to give it a try.  Color me blonde and call me happy.  It was fabulous!*  I'll have to warn you, it takes about 4 hours because the stylists-in-training have to get everything checked off by a supervisor.  BUT I enjoyed all of those 4 hours and I love my hair!  And let me tell you how much this little "do" cost me: $53!!!!!  Um, that's a third of what I was spending.  I'll be going back soon!  The school is on Gervais street literally in the back of Tsunami and directly across Adluh.  I would definitely call them and ask how to get there because 700 Gervais is a ginormous building.

during

after

Another little tip on saving some moolah.  I love the look of a pedicure, but I'm not a huge fan of the price.  So, I went into the new Sephora at the mall here and purchased this little beauty:

It was over $9, but that's better than $25-$40 and the polish is Sephora by OPI, so you know it's good.  It lasts forever and doesn't take 1,481 coats - one or two will do the trick.  

I don't know about you, but a good haircut and some painted nails makes me feel like a million bucks :).

*Obviously I cannot guarantee your experience will be as delightful as mine, BUT I can tell you, for me, it was awesome.  Oh, and Lydia was my stylist.

~Kathy

Rah, Rah, Ree, Kick Em In The Knee

Karma finally came back around to bite me in the butt.  After spending my entire high school and college careers making fun of cheerleaders, my daughter decided that she wanted to be a fairy-princess-CHEERLEADER-mommy.  Groan.  The research then started on cheerleading camps in our area.  Delightful.

I had heard through word of mouth that Chapin High School had a camp, and since my husband and I are CHS graduates, this seemed like a logical choice.  Easier said than done.  After googling every combination I could come up with I couldn't find out anything about the camp.  I actually accidentally stumbled upon a link to a registration form from the Chapin Elementary School webpage.  Go figure.  There was no age requirement listed, NO contact information whatsoever, and very few details on the form.  The form simply read, "return to the Chapin High School athletic office."  For those of you who don't know, Chapin High School is a wreck right now because of construction, but I piled all three kids in the car and headed up there to turn in my form before the deadline, since there was no mailing address listed.  After winding my way through constuction debris to the makeshift trailer that read "administrative office," I noticed a sign on the door that read, "closed due to construction."  Crap.  I then hoofed it up (with all three kids) to where the athletic office used to be over ten years ago when I had attended CHS.  You guessed it, NO ONE.  I finally decided to call CHS and inquire about where I should take the form.  The poor secretary was like, "I don't know.  I think they're holding it at Chapin Middle School.  Why don't you take it over there?"  To which I replied, "Because the form clearly states to return to the CHS athletic department.  I have a check to pay for the camp, and I want to make sure it gets to the right place.  I don't feel like driving all over town to register my child for cheer camp.  It's already been a very frustrating morning."  Then I got the, "Well ma'am, let me transfer you to the Athletic department."  No answer.  Surprise.  Off I drove to Chapin Middle School to try my luck again.  By this point it was lunch time, and all three kids were bickering and crabby.  Honestly, I was too.  Luckily, the staff was much more helpful at CMS, and I managed to get the little princess registered for Cheer camp.  Anything for our kids, right???

The camp was held for four days 9:00am-12:00pm, and the cost was $60, which included a T-Shirt and some crafts. On the first day (I had all three kids with me again) I squeezed my way into the over crowded CMS cafeteria with every other parent in Chapin.  I finally found a cheerleader who told me that if I had already registered I could weave my way to the OTHER end of the cafeteria to another group of cheerleaders.  We made it.  The cheerleader verified that we had preregistered and then led us down the hall to the other side of the school to where the gym was located.  Then, the cheerleader realized that my little pumpkin didn't have a name tag.  I guess she had been too busy trying to make sure she looked REALLY cute in her large toy sunglasses.  We then made our way all the back across the school to the cafeteria where she made one for my daughter.  Then, we made the journey back across America to the gym.  FINALLY--MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.  My daughter arrived safely with the five year old group.

I arrived on time to pick up my daughter, because that's just how I roll, only to find that I needed a yellow slip of paper that matched my daughter's name in order to pick her up.  Well, I didn't get one of those.  It was apparently supposed to be given to me when I received my daughter's name tag, but if you recall, there was a bit of a mix up there and I didn't get one.  YES, we had to walk back and forth across the school 4 times, yes 4 in order to clear this up.  YES, I am hauling all of the kids with me.  NO, I am NOT HAPPY.  Happy that they won't let my daughter go home with just anybody, but annoyed that there was no organization.  When we finally found the director, she kind of rolled  her eyes as she shuffled through her paperwork to find my child's ID slip.  Guess I should have been grateful that she was so accomodating.  I don't understand how people make it through life without being ubber organized, and I don't have much patience for the lack of it.  And just for the record, no one checked my card for the rest of the week when I arrived to pick up my daughter.

Maybe it was my frustration with the program, but I wasn't really impressed with the attitudes of the cheerleaders either.  They were nice enough, but it just seemed that they had other WAY more important things to do.  I'm sure they did since they are teenagers, but they really should do their best to make those little girls feel special.  They forget how much little girls look up to them, and after all, I was PAYING them to be there with my child.   That, in my opinion, is something that stems directly from the coaches.  It is their responsibility to nip bad attitudes and make sure the teenagers know why they are there.

Overall, the program was OK.  The last day of the program the little girls did a small performance for the parents, which lasted WAY too long (about an hour) and there wasn't enough seating for the parents.  My daughter had a good time during the week though, which is about all I can say for it.

After this experience I was totally turned off to the whole cheer camp experience, but my daughter wasn't.  This prompted me to contact an old friend that is now the JV coach at Dutch Fork High School.  She gave some recomendations about more advanced cheer lessons, and also sent me a registration form for the DFHS cheer camp.  Clearly, I was hesitant about doing ANOTHER disasterous camp, but I fell for it.  Man, am I glad I did!  The registration form had all the information about the camp that a parent needed to know, AND it actually included names and contact numbers in case of problems or questions.  Seems like common sense, right??  The camp was the same as the other, $60 for a four day camp, 9:00am-12:00pm, and included a shirt.  Other than the problem of parking, once I entered the building registration was quick and easy.  Also, VERY organized and NOT crowded.  The camp had a good number of girls, but not TOO many.  The gym was located directly next to registration so I didn't have to walk to Kansas and back in order to drop off my child.  The cheerleaders actually seemed really excited to be there, and took their time to get the little girls excited too.  They greeted the girls with a smile every morning, and gave hugs and words of encouragement at the end of the day.  The performance at the end of the camp was about 30 minutes, which was enough time to display what the girls learned, but not too long for the younger siblings.  Basically it was everything that a parent could want from a short summer camp. 

If you live in the Irmo/Chapin area, I HAVE to recomend the Dutch Fork High School cheer camp for little girls interested in cheerleading.  Thank you for a great experience DFHS!  You will be seeing us again next year!

~Tyson

Daddy Time

ATTENTION DADS:  You MUST take your kids (ages 3 and up) to Lowe's Build and Grow Clinic tomorrow morning.  It is a fantastic way to spend some one on one time with your kiddos, and it's FREE.  Who doesn't love that?  This fun-filled bit of family time comes with a Lowe's smock, goggles, and a badge to put on the smock for each completed craft.  The clinic is usually held every two weeks and there is a different craft to build each time.  This is seriously my husband's favorite thing to do with the kids on Saturday mornings.

 It started a few years ago when we lived in Savannah, GA and I had just had our second child.  Our daughter was almost 3 and my husband literally stumbled upon this program at our local Lowe's while he was out running errands with her.  He decided to give it a try, and she LOVED it!  She was unbelieveably proud of her creation when she got home and told me ALL about it!  She started asking her daddy to take her every day, and so it became a Saturday morning tradition.  She's now almost six and she still looks forward to going, even though her little brother tags along these days.

The program has grown a little over the years, and now registration is required.  Follow this link: http://lowesbuildandgrow.com/pages/default.aspx to register.  Also, the time of the clinic varies depending on the location, so be sure to pay attention to the times, or call the location of interest.  In just the last few weeks, the clinic has been offering times on Sunday afternoons as well.  I strongly encourage dads to spend some QT with your kiddos.  You won't regret it!

~Tyson

So I put my hands up...

They're playin' my song... It's a party in the USA!

UPDATE: Loggerhead Apparel was on World News with Diane Sawyer talking "Made in America!!"  So proud to know them and what they're doing for all of us right her in the great US of A!

Do you know Loggerhead Apparel?  Yes?  Hallelujah and God bless America.  No?  Well, let me introduce you.  A company that is dedicated to supplying apparel made of home-grown (read: USA) cotton and constructed here, too - not an easy thing to do, and we're so thankful for their effort in helping the economy.    AND 10% of the sales (NOT profit, ten percent of the SALES) go to local causes supporting the conservation and protection of Loggerhead turtles.  Did I mention that they've been selling apparel for about 18 months and have already committed $20,000 to those conservation efforts?!?!  Can I get a big "Good Job, Y'all!"

Love the Bellwether polos (all made in the fine state of SC!!)!  And so does the man in my house!

 All you Clemson and Carolina fans, you know who you are, they have collegiate inspired colors!

And lucky for all of you reading this, our friends at Loggerhead are offering our readers 40% off any  of the Bellwether polos until July 15 with the coupon code: APPRECIATION.  That's FORTY PERCENT off!  Wow.  Now HURRY and get your 'merica-loving, turtle-loving selves over to their site so you don't miss out!

You can find Loggerhead Apparel right here in the midlands (and about 50 other locations throughout the U.S.) at the Mast General Store in downtown Columbia, Sunglass Division in the Columbiana Mall, and Craig Reagin Clothiers in downtown Lexington.

~Kathy

Calling all Soccer Moms

Soccer moms unite!  It's that time of the year again, so get excited, VERY excited.  Wax your Yukon Denali XL, put on your brand new stylish workout outfit, curl your hair, powder your nose, and put on your sunvisor, it's time to register your munchkins for recreational SOCCER! 

Our daughter played soccer last year through SC United/YMCA and had a wonderful experience.  It was also a great experience for me as a parent too.  Our coach was in contact with us through emails and text messages often, and we were ALWAYS contacted if a practice or game was cancelled.  If your child is 4, 5, or 6, you get to choose your primary field, so you don't have to travel across America for the Saturday morning games.  Age 3 plays only at the field at Ballentine Park.  Practice is only once a week, but was organized and actually improved soccer skills.  Both practices and games are very positive in that parents from both teams cheered for everyone, regardless of the team.  Some of our players even switched jerseys and played for our opponent when a team was down a few players.  Overall, our daughter learned what it means to play on a team, and she looked forward to going to soccer.

A warning for parents...DO NOT be THAT parent.  Remember that they are just kids.  I made that mistake at game #1.  I had never had a child in a competative sport, so I went in there with my claws out.  I was on the sidelines yelling, and directing traffic, and basically making a fool of myself.  I hit my low point when my 5 year old daughter ran over to me saying that a little boy from the other team was making fun of her.  I told her to tell him that he couldn't talk because her team was winning.  Yes, I actually said that.  Yes, other parents heard me.  That's when I realized that I needed to SIMMER DOWN.  After that I redeemed myself and enjoyed the games as much as the kids did :)

Follow this link to register:
http://southcarolinaunitedfc.com/
Registration is $75 and includes one pair of socks and two jerseys. 

Happy Soccer Season Soccer Moms!

Traveling with kids: 1100 miles, 100 goldfish, 14 stops, and 6 days of fun later

Last Tuesday I left for the open road with my kids (the hubs joined us Friday).  We went up to (right outside) the Pittsburgh area to visit my Dad's side of the fam.  We left at 4 a.m. to drive the 11 hours - whew!  I had everything packed the day before including the FIVE movies the kids watched
AANNNDDD these brilliant containers:

A friend of mine suggested these compartmentalized containers for traveling.  They're wonderful!  No spilled ketchup, juice, etc, and a perfect place for fast food meals, crayons, juice, snacks, etc.  I got 3 from Target's clearance section (in the front of the store), but I'm not sure if they have them any longer.  Well worth your time to go and check.

two happy kids a few hours into the trip

going in for the hug

big brother love

watching and waiting for candy

Sweet baby slept through firetruck sirens

showing mommy his loot

If you ever get a chance to go to the 4th of July parade in Midland, PA, GO.  GO GO GO!!!  It is a fabulous parade.  The more red, white and blue, the merrier.  Hence the patriotism we were wearing.  That sweet little smocked bubble my daughter is wearing is from Smocked Auctions on facebook.  I LOOOVVVEE their "steal of the night."  If you haven't checked them out, go on over and take a look.

Hope you all had a fabulous 4th celebrating America's birthday!

Monogramming and Appliques, it's what the South's about

A few of my college friends and I are getting together to throw a baby shower for a good friend.  I was in charge of the sweet baby clothes line!  I loved this job!  I hopped on Etsy and searched "Clemson applique" and Sarah's site popped up because of these little orange and purple cuties right here ^^. Sarah at Lily and Luke Gifts made it so easy!  Just look at the precious things she can do!  She can create many custom designs, you just have to tell her your ideas.  Unfortunately, I can't show exactly what I purchased - because the shower hasn't happened yet...BUT as soon as July 22nd rolls around, I'm going to put those little beauties up faster than Tomkat can sign the papers.