Extremely Corny

Bobby and I failed to plan our annual Halloween party. So, in lieu of that yearly shindig we decided to host a Corny Christmas bash! It turned out to be quite hysterical and Goodwill met their December sales quota from our party invitation list alone. Did you know that that place has clothes from every decade imaginable? I scored Bobby a happenin' jean shirt ("jean shirt" alone is quite tacky) with some great memaw embroidered cats (yes, cats) and wreaths. It was atrocious. Paired with his red polyester pants and red sequin tie, his outfit was a go. And, should he for any reason, need to quit his day job and become a Christmas stripper, he'll already have that great tie. As one of my friends stated, I looked like a mom straight out of a 1982 PTA meeting. Shoulder pads and stirrup pants. Doesn't get much tackier than that.

The Joneses in their corny attire:
The Sellers: Between Samantha's caked on eye make-up, and Wes's womans turtle neck, I could hardly contain my laughter.
The Lays and Brad's Cousin Eddie outfit that left nothing to the imagination. "Pooooor Ashley"! :)
Mama Ashlee and her sweet husband
Pulling out all the stops with handmade bottoms, it's the Harrells. Crafty Kelly whipped out some seriously festive attire and Michael added his touch with oddly placed mistletoe. Hmmm.
Jon stylized according to Elf and Tonya accessorized with a holiday purse. Nothin' like your granny's purse to spiff up for Christmas.
Ashman pulled off Cousin Eddie flawlessly and A'lyce dug in the closet to resurrect a bridesmaid dress that she actually sported and loved back in the day... or she's wearing a curtain. I'm not sure which.
For a little friendly competition Bobby and I planned out several Minute to Win It games. The 20 pencil toss was one that was getting everyone.
Skillz.


Samantha tried to tackle the can stacking but after 3 dented cans we decided to nix this game for the final round.
If Wes cracked me up once, he cracked me up a thousand times. His Sansabelt pants proved to have quite a bit of flexibility when it came to the Buckethead game. You need to be able to move to catch that ping pong ball!
Noodling Around. Jon was a smooth pro. Most everyone conquered this one.


Some of the tackiest gals I know:
Bobby donned the pantyhose head to defeat the Elephant March game.
I don't think wearing pantyhose is anything new to Brad.
Or Brent.
Crackup moment number 452....After seeing Wes in a woman's turtleneck, Mardi Gras beads, and a backwards wig I could hardly contain myself. He said this is going to be his picture should he ever become a best selling author. If that happens, judging by the picture, I feel like his name should be Freida Mashburn. I don't know why.....I also don't know why looking at this picture makes me so happy. But it does.
Some corniness:




The Lays were the couples' competition winners. Brad is a pretty mean balloon juggler.
One last look at all the party goin' gals:
And, just for the record, most of the clothes in the next picture came from the SAME woman's closet. What a sport to let us borrow her winter wear!
Party goin' guys:
The Cousin Eddies
And the whole gang!
Thousands of laughs, friendly competition, crazy outfits, and time with great friends. Can't wait until the next one!

It's Coming!

Christmas is right around the corner and I'm SUPER excited about it! I started working the day after Thanksgiving and got most of my decorations up. I have yet to get my ever-growing snow globe collection out. I do truly love it but I don't love all the styrofoamy thingamabobs that encase them in all of their boxes. It's messy. And it feels weird. Something tells me I'll do it tomorrow despite my angst regarding all the foam.

I did get the tree up and it makes me smile.

The thing that makes me smile the most, however is this:
Way back in 2008, a year and some change into our adoption process I was wishing the next year would bring the extra stocking. Much to my disappointment it didn't come by Christmas that year.....oh, but THIS year, THIS one, my mantle is proudly displaying a stocking pink and frilly with a ballerina (even though my girl is going to be a soccer player :) )
This year I'll be most happy to watch Tee-Tiny (who's not so tee-tiny any more!) eat the wrapping paper from her presents and slobber all over her new smocked Christmas dress 'cause, frankly, it doesn't get much better than that!
So, I was lying in the floor snapping some pics of 'Ol Christmas tree admiring the bokeh from my 50mm lens when I noticed something. Do you see me?
Look closely. I'm in that gold ball! After I downloaded them I noticed I could see me in there! I'm glad it's slightly distorted. Me in sweaty work out clothes with greasy hair isn't exactly the image I want saved into infinity in my blog scrapbook.
Although, if you work at Publix then that's the only way you know me. It's a good thing those people are taught to love unashamedly and without prejudice . Greasy and sweaty or not, that old man is pushing my cart and calling me sweetie. Gotta love that! 22 days to go!

The Clubhouse

While outside with Rhett doing what he likes to call "Extreme Swinging" (because I push him so high it gets "dangerous") my eye wandered down the hill to the area known as The Clubhouse.

There is no house in The Clubhouse, nor is there really a club but the boys think it's an awesome place nonetheless. Normally this area is covered by leaves on the trees and with the low hanging branches you can't see in unless you venture through the little opening in the weeds.
However, due to fall being upon us and the leaves all tumbling to the ground, I was able to see into their wooded area of secrecy. (Is that a knight's shield?)
I walked down and the first thing that caught my eye was their clubhouse sign.
In case you can't read it, here it is a little closer: It only took me one second to figure out who's handiwork this is. Along with his looks, Cade also picked up his father's lack of spelling/english knowledge.
I was a little terrified when I read that there was a "calw of darrkness". I didn't know where the claw was coming from so I didn't stay around too long.
I did make note of their crafted meeting table. I guess it's for important discussions between The Clubhouse members.
I am a little curious as to where they came upon all the cut firewood. I know a lot of stuff floats down our way in the creek but I can't help but to think somewhere through the trees some man is wondering why no matter how much wood he chops he still doesn't have enough to start a fire in his fire pit. My fear is that he'll wander into The Clubhouse and be rendered incapacitated by the Calw of Darrkness. I guess it's my duty to put out a neighborhood warning. Consider this it.

He Shoots! He Scores!

In the final game of the season Little Buddy finally put it all together and figured out that with a little hustle, a little ball control, and a big kick at the end he could score a goal or two! I just happened to have my camera out and ready (imagine that!) and I caught his first one in photos!

He was so pumped! He had been content to be the passer all season but I think his mind was changed once he tasted a bit of the good life of the scorer. Elaina was watching contently. I'm sure that if she weren't eating her finger she would've been clapping and waving her cowbell. The world always needs more cowbell.
This was one of Rhett's favorite friends on the team. Lauren was a pretty mean soccer player and she was by far the team's top scorer. That made her totally cool to hang out with even if she was a girl.
So Rhett finished the season out with two goals-- the one above and another shot with his left foot from the right corner! Where'd that come from? Bobby claims it was the candy corn he fed him this morning while I wasn't looking. If candy corn gets that much hustle and flow then let's sugar up, boys! A great ending to a wonderful season!