it's tebowww timeee!

photo credit Google Images. 

People. I'm a totall Tim Tebow freak. Yeah, he's a Christian and yeah, he had an amazing college football career and yes ::whispers:: he might pull off the rugged look just fine, but he wasn't doing so hot in the regular season. All that changed last week. If you missed it, Google it. It's amazing and we all were screaming at the radio/TV (some of us were in the car and some were at home).

Tonight's the night to see how Tebow leads the Broncos in the playoffs. It's gonna be hard; the Patriots are amazing. But the stage he's set himself up on to spread the Word of God will still be there no matter if they win or lose.

Come on, Tim. It's your time to shine. I'm wearing orange & navy blue PJ's rooting for you ;)

fall bucket list 2011

It's no secret I love Fall. Like, really LOVE Fall.

It's also no secret that there are plenty of fall bucket lists floating around on my beloved Pinterest. You know what's also not a secret? I'm kinda sorta a perfectionist and instead of using one of those beautiful PDF files you can download with a click of a button, I'm writing out my own list because those other lists didn't have everything I wanted on them. Yeah, I like to do things the hard way in order not a compromise sometimes.

Without further ado, here's my Fall Bucket List, to be accomplished before the end of November {or at least as long as it doesn't snow because let's be honest: that's a more realistic goal for me}.

{Bake Pumpkin Cookies}

If there is one thing that I want people to know me for after I die, it's my pumpkin cookies...second to being a Christian, duh. I love my Jesus and don't doubt that for a second. But! Pumpkin cookies are amazing and I've tweaked my baking hero Joy the Baker's recipe until it's become my own. It's the highlight of fall for some of my friends and I'm not even stretching the truth.

And on that note, baking something once a week seems like an attainable goal since it's getting dark out earlier and earlier.

{Drink a Pumpkin Spice Latte}

Obvs, I've done this. One from Sbux on a dreary Friday afternoon when it was just the slightest bit chilly and  numerous from the Coffee Shack. But since I'm a stickler for rules and such, I'll only count the one I drink after I finish this post. Who knows? Maybe I can drink one with one of my readers in spirit!

{Have a Fall Photo Shoot}

Yeah, this one's pretty self-explanatory for a photographer like myself. All I need is a volunteer...or multiple volunteers. I'm cool with either. Any takers? When I get my ducks in a row I'm going to send out a mass text to all my GORGEOUS Word of Life girls and plead with them to let me take pictures of them. Sounds like a plan to me.

{Host a Park Day}

I still have memories of the impromtu park day we had with our CBS friends last year. I'm thinking of getting some of my age friends and swinging to our hearts content...with my camera in tow, of course.

{Have a Fire in the Fireplace}

When you live in an old drafty house, you learn to heat up the house in creative ways. Baking something, having a fire, etc. We've yet to have a actual fire in our wood burning fireplace {no gas logs for us!} so I can't wait to sit around the fire late one Friday night watching our favorite family TV show. Perfection.

{Play Football with Clark and his friends}

I love football...no ifs, ands, or buts about it. While I'm not the BEST player in the whole wide world, I understand some simple plays and love to play a quick game with Clark and the Furloughs now and then.

So that's my Fall Bucket List 2011. Five simple, attainable goals to make me feel like I accomplished something in my all time favorite season. The only thing that's left? To ask my readers a question and here it is: would you rather get an update post every time I cross something off my list or have one big recap post when I've completed them all? It's up to you!

Happy Fall readers! May your skies be blue and leaves be red...or something like that. I never said I was a poet.

water's weekend

After STORM last Friday, we got up bright & early, packed the car and grabbed breakfast before hitting the road to go visit 2/3s of Dad's siblings in Fuquay-Varina. It was a surprise trip; Clark & I only found out a couple days before we were going. I literally jumped up & down because I was just SO EXCITED. I love all my cousins but since Brock, Garrision, and Quinn live close {and we're close in age}, we have a special bond with those crazy kids.

The view was AMAZING up there! The closer we got to F-V, the more color the trees had and I was snapping pictures left & right because I knew that we wouldn't have much of a leaf turnout {the hurricane either stripped the trees of the leaves or confused them. the pear tree started blooming in the middle of Sept! crazy}. God amazes me with His gorgeous creation.

A tradition that always takes place on our roadtrips: a breakfast stop at Mickey D's. I satisfied my biscuit craving and even got a hashbrown to go with it. And then there was the hot chocolate...I was in heaven. And   we hadn't even made it outta our own county!

Coffee cup bokeh. OH YEAH. 

 Dad: "So when do you think you want to drive up here?" 
Me: "Oh, I was thinking about NYE."
Dad: ::nods head:: "Sounds good."


I think I'm the designated driver for our annual trip to stay with the Waters. Hold me.

Almost there! 

 Biscuits were consumed, pictures of the scenery were taken, and our special playlist on Dad's iPod was on repeat. We could've turned around & headed straight back home and I would've been perfectly content, but the fun was just about to begin!

We drove up the driveway to see Brock cleaning off the go-kart & everyone else staying inside where it was a little warmer. Once we were unpacked, we geared up to go to the first soccer game of the afternoon, which was Garrison's. But first, there were grits involved. Aunt Michelle makes the BEST grits period.

With my bellah full of cheesy grits goodness, we headed off to soccer game numero uno: Garrsion's. If I though that the scenery was beautiful on the way UP to FV, it was amazing up there. Take a look...

See?! It made me happy because I had my camera there to photograph it but sad because I knew that ENC wouldn't have this {the hurricane stripped most the leaves off & completely confused the trees cycle. we had a pear tree blooming in Sept. crazy}.

I kinda sorta LOVE this photo. 

Note the Washington Redskins shirt. We all sported our fave teams colors...Dad & Brock with the Skins, Aunt Michelle & me with the Packers and Clark with his beloved Bengals. 

Nice faces, dude. 

Btwn halves the boys played football. Typical of any Waters/Lyons gathering. 

At first I thought Garrsion was a little too into the game...but then I realized some of those boys could care less if they won and Garrsion seemed intense compared to them when he was really just being, well...normal! He played GREAT and if I remember right, they won. Way to go, buddy!

Unfocused but cool. I wish I could say I planned that but alas, I'm not that good of a photog. 

There was the.cutest.baby beside us who just learned to sit up on his own...it was so cute to watch he get all excited about sitting then topple over and catch himself {or his parents caught him}

After Garrison's game we trekked back to the house long enough for the boys to ride the gokart for a few minutes in the tobacco field behind their house. After a walk in which Quinn confessed that if she had the option to trade her uber-special rocks {rocks that you wouldn't trade ANYTHING for, duh; they are pictured below} for anything Justin Bieber, she would. It was too funny...I almost busted a gut trying not to laugh at her because she was dead serious. Aunt AM & Uncle Tyler are proud parents for sure ;)

We were totally in for a shock at Brock's game. First off, the temperature. It was considerably colder. Like, really. I zipped myself in Aunt Ann Marie's North Face jacket because all I had was a fancy pea coat for church the next day. Nice, SA.

Second, it was INTENSE. I'm not lying! There was the goalie for the opposing team who was so annoying he got hilarious to me by the end of the game. Yelling out instructions for the team like he was the coach and making a big deal when he kicked the ball {he claimed he hurt himself one time}. And the best part? He was supposed to be under 15 but he was sporting a full beard. A FULL BEARD! Wow.

Also, there was his dude that thought he was all that and a bag of chips & made show about getting knocked down and scratched on his back. I didn't see it but he ended up getting a red card {or getting kicked outta the game} after he cussed the coach out. Ah, the drama.

Brock's team ended up losing but it was a GREAT game! Good job & effort, Brock!

Hand on the hip...I think he means business. 

Remember how cold I said it was?! This was Garrsion when the sun was setting...

.
..he's crazy but we love him.

Granddog London came with us! 

After we had thawed out {OK, it was only me. I can't handle cold well}, dinner prep was under way {pictured below} and we watched ECU win the Navy game even though they didn't really win. It was a win off of a horribly called touchdown, so not a win in my book. Still love my Pirates though! Watching it outside on their screened in porch with the smell of burgers wafting through the air made up for the so called "win".

I went upstairs at one point and found the guys playing a messed up game of Madden '12...they purposefully made bad plays so they would drop the players ratings down. It was kinda funny to watch them, actually. At one point they had a kicker as quarterback!

CLASSIC Garrison face. Cracks me up. 

We finished the night with Gran Jan's homemade apple pie {amazing, BTW}, the Ballad of Ricky Bobby {we're classy like that. also, it's the most pointless movie ever}, and showers. It was a good night.

We woke up, threw on clothes, ate breakfast & loaded up. But! Not before I got a picture of the Waters all dressed up in their Redskins apparely {they got tix to the Skins vs Panthers game that day}...

It was an AMAZING weekend, ya'll. I love my family so much & writing this post makes me miss all the gokart antics, belly laughs, and football scrimmages. Can't wait for New Year's guys!

happy 13th birthday to Clark!

 Clark...where do I even begin, buddy? From the way that you make me laugh with your corny jokes & quotes from Looney Tunes to the way I miss you with all my heart when I'm not around you all comes flooding back. You have so many great personality traits like saving up for your first car {he's starting early, ya'll}, seeing a need at CBS and willingness to complete the task for someone else, and your aforementioned funniness are just some of them of them. And how can I forget your short and not-so-sweet texts that you send me in reply to my wordy ones? Defintely too many memories to write down here, but I'm sure we'll just make more over the coming years.

I love you little bro. Don't ever change!

------------------------------------------------------

We have a rule here at our house: every 3 years we get to have a BIG party. You know, the themed ones...the ones that require some effort, ha! Sure, we have sleepovers with a couple friends & always have cake & presents, but the every 3 year rule has stayed strong over the years.

All that backstory to say, Clark's turn was this year and he opted to have an Amazing Race/campout themed party. We were inspired by a WOL friend's sweet 16 party earlier that summer & used a few of their tasks but Mama and Dad did a lot of the research themselves. It was perfect for the guys, ya'll. Physical tasks meets up with thoughtful tasks? Perfect balance for the party, if you ask me.

8 boys in an 8 man tent. it was cray-cray out there.

They each had bandanas for their teams.

Just as an overview of our tasks {in pictures! and words!} so not to confuse you readers: We had a total of 6 tasks, the first being building a house out of cardboard boxes...and not just any ol' thing would do. Dad had a set of things that each house had to have to pass the test so they could recieve their next clue. This was probably one of my favorite tasks!

the rules. oh father dear is such a teacher. ;)

The second challenge was to go count PO boxes at our tiny local post office. Unfortunately there wasn't enough room for everyone to tag along to, plus, we would have to leave the house attended with a bunch of stuff all over the place, so no pics of that :(

As soon as we saw them pull up {I'm pretty sure we heard the boys before we actually saw them}, I raced out to get my camera & station myself at the next task: finding a dime in a kiddie pool filled with wet play sand and about 100 pennies. 

It was tough, and man did those boys persevere! Poor Nate was looking for 15+ mins for a dime and he did it with a smile on his face. I felt so bad for them I hopped in their myself and went to town digging in the sand. It was kinda weird, but cool at the same time if that makes any sense.

Next up was the obstacle course, comprised of a soccer slalom course...

...a football toss through the now-homeless-since-the-oak-tree-came-down tire swing...

...around the world basketball...

...and a water balloon toss. ::cough cough:: I was the one that came up with the idea for an obstacle course ::cough cough::

Up next we had them dive into the pool {it was COLD, ppl} and grab a water toy that had their team color written on it. I think that was Mom's idea and it was awesome! Those boys were shivering when they got out, I know...whether they admit it or not ;)

Lastly, there were puzzles to put together. When I say puzzles I mean painted cardboard with Sharpie designs on them cut into tiny pieces. It was tough is what all the guys said! Again, no pics of the before but I managed to snap some of them putting them together; look for them later in the post!

So now that you know what the party setup looked like, on to the candids! :)

Sweet Emmylou helped us by being a clue lady with me...

Um, this is a new fave pic of my bestie; she is beautiful inside & out.

As with any gathering of boys, they headed for the football setup in the backyard while we waited for the one lone guest to arrive {don't worry, he had the food so we wouldn't have DARED started without him ;)}. Emily, Elizabeth, and I were the cheerleaders sitting on the bed of Dad's truck.

After they played a couple of games, we explained the rules to them along with passing out the team bandanas...

A little blurry but the look of pure joy on his face is priceless!

The Black Team: Clark & Caleb, buddies for life.

Josh was a good sport because Burton wasn't there but he was still the life of the party!

The Blue Team: Nate & Andrew. A new fave pic of Nate as well; look at that cute face!

The Red Team: Trey & Jonathan. They were called the Blood Muggers, I believe...Silly guys.

There was no shortage of silliness at the party, believe me.

Finally, we're started the race! 

Getting instructions for the house task!

They called that an A frame roof. Ha.

And this was the porch on said A frame roof. Double ha!

On to the post office! 

Oh yeah, the infamous sand pit. Funny story: little Elizabeth saw the pool and said: "Look, they made a beach!" Precious.

At one point there were 4 people in the pool. It was REALLY funny.

Obstacle course time!

Freezing cold dive to the bottom up next!

Some jumped in fully clothed...Jonathan & Clark, I believe. Crazy boys.

Puzzles were last and I think it took them the longest to do this task! 

See what I mean?! Little pieces.

The teams that already finished went back to help the other boys with there puzzles. Melt.my.heart. They look out for each other, that's for sure!

Almost there!

You'd better believe that the boys were starving after all that work, so we pulled out the pizza's Miss Helen & Burton so graciously picked up before they came, set out drinks & grapes and let them go to town in the food. I was hungry too if I do say so myself.

Little Caesars FTW!

After food we went back out to the backyard to play {more} football...then I noticed it was SUPER dark looking north. I asked Dad to check the weather and sure enough, there was a strong line of thunderstorms moving straight towards us. We decided to forego Capture the Flag and eat cake outside while we could...

If you have a Sam's Club where you live, I HIGHLY recommend their cakes. Amazingly good!

Birthday boy thinking about his wish...

The best part of the cake?! Josh stuffed a whole icing balloon in his mouth. Just look at Em's face in the second pic!

As soon as we ate cake we saw the first bolt of lightening & felt the wind rush by us, so we grabbed the cake and began to pick up the things that would blow away...which was everything, ha! Then we realized that all the boys stuff was inside the tent, which resulted in a mad dash for the everything just as the sky opened up. This was our living room:

Opening presents...he got money, money, and more money. Shocking ;)

I asked him to pose with his balloons...and this is what I got.

The gift of the night was definitely his Bengals sweatshirt...He's wearing it right now actually! And I don't think he's ever gonna take it off; great choice Mama & Dad!

Like I mentioned before, it rained for the good part of the night so we trucked inside to play Uno, poker upstairs, have epic Twister tournaments {I won, I won, I won! If you're reading this Burton: good game :)}...

...played Night of the Assains {which is basically hide-and-seek with glow sticks & a Nerf gun} and stuck glow sticks to the ceiling while it was on...

That was probably the best part of the night to me. There was only one word for laying on the ground with the room pitch black staring at the colors spinning: EPIC. For reals.

After it stopped raining, the boys went out to inspect the tent, only to come back in & use every towel we owned to sop up the water. I went to bed listening to the sounds of giggle and poker chips clinking :) It was amazing and made me want to have a houseful o' kiddos.

Thanks for each and every one of Clark's buddies that came; it was a weekend to remember!