I Heart Football

It is that time of the year.  Besides Christmastime with my family, nothing makes me feel more warm and fuzzy than football season.

I love high school football.  

But even more, I love college football.  I love the pride fans have.  I love how it runs deep in family trees.  I love crazy fans painted in their team's colors.  I love little old ladies in their 25 year old hats adorned with  their team logos and charms and feathers.  I love little guys in football jerseys and little sweethearts in team colored tutus.  I love that toddlers learn to say their parents' team name right along with their first words.  I love extravagant tailgate parties.  I love student sections.  I love when teams run out on the field and you get goosebumps because the atmosphere is so electric.  I love Homecoming.  I love ESPN College Gameday.  I love living in a college town and the excitement that is in the air.  I love it.  I love it.  I love it!

Since football season officially takes flight tomorrow, we are busy as bees getting ready.  We had a quite little weekend last weekend as a family before life really gets crazy.

If you have followed my blog or know the Harris family, you have probably heard us talk about 

Merry Football Christmas.  It has become a little tradition around our house.

So, the wreaths are hung.  The gifts are wrapped.  And the yummy treats will soon be in the oven.  I will share pics later. 

I know, some may think we are crazy, and that is okay with me.  

If you are like me, you like cute game day outfits.  HolyTurf is having one great giveaway and one contest with a really great prize.  I am linking both here so you don't miss out on either!

Go here to enter to win a dress up to $100 in value!  

I love these dresses!!!

Go here to make your picks for a chance to win tickets to your team's bowl game!

I love decoration ideas or tailgate recipes so please- do share.  What do you do around your house to celebrate football season?

I am so excited, I can hardly stand it!

Filled Days

I have lots of random pictures I want to be sure to document.  Our days have been filled the last few weeks.

Today we went to Cilla's "school" to meet her teachers for this year!  I am excited for her to start back to school.  I love spending my days with her in the summer, but it is always good to get back on a schedule and for her to have a better routine
They asked each kid to wear their favorite color and Cilla chose purple.

Already doing art projects!

I tried to get a picture before we left our house, but this was about the best I could get.  Gigi in hand.  Check.  Blanket.  Check.  Bow ripped out.  Check check.

The only way I could get her to not run the opposite direction from me was to agree to her request of taking my picture!

And here I am getting my picture made!  Cheese!

We have been on the go the last couple of weeks.  I have been trying to catch up on some projects and some house cleaning.  In order to semi do this, our two year old has to have some sort of entertainment.

So, here is the party which we also call our entry way.

 In case you couldn't see all the toys, here is another angle!

Whatever it takes some days!

These are the little "ice cream" brownie sundaes I made for baby Cooper's shower, who by the way is here and he is so sweet and cuddly!  The leftovers have been in my freezer and Cilla just ate the last one!  She has loved them!

Nap time has been a struggle the last week and a half.  Actually, it has been non-existent!  I am terribly afraid that we may be on the brink of being a no-nap family.  I left Cilla "napping" at home one afternoon while Flint was working from home.  I came home to this sign taped to the door.  It is a spin off of the paper Cilla brings from "school" reporting her day.  Last year, she often had the box next to "I was not sleepy today" checked.  Which could not be further from the truth.  We will see how it goes year!

Please tell me it is not normal for a two and a half year old to give up nap time and we are probably just in a funk.  Please!!!

And just because I love these two little dearies and they do not get much face time on this blog...

Here are my first babies.  I got a couple of sweet shots of them recently.

Sweet Sophie.

 Katie Girl.

This is a lot of randomness.  I feel like that is pretty much my life story these days!

Mmmm, Mmmm Monday: Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. EVER!

Look at these faces, don't they look like this cookie dough is pure bliss?!  I don't claim for this to be healthy, but it is delicious!!!  I know everyone has a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe in their recipe box, but this is seriously worth trying.  I have made this recipe several times and I have yet to hear anything but delicious comments! 

This recipe came from my Waco friend, Kimberly;)  So, I am assuming she got the recipe from Mimi.

Mimi's Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 cup Crisco sticks

2/3 cup Butter (soft)

1 cup Sugar

1 cup Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

Mix these ingredients with beaters.

Stir in pecans or nuts (optional).

3 cups Flour

1 tsp. Soda

1 tsp. Salt

12 oz. bag of Chocolate Chips (I prefer Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips)

Mix into other ingredients with a large mixing spoon.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Serve warm with Blue Bell ice cream! 

Never a Dull Moment

This week has been crazy and busy and busy and crazy! 

We have been on the go.  Unfortunately, I did a horrible job of taking pictures.  But, I have a few to share and I have a couple of stories that I have to document because I simply can't forget them!

Friday we had a little play date.  My friends Lindsey, Katie and Candice came over so our four crazy two year olds could run off a little energy!  Did they ever!!!  It was a riot to watch them run and squeal and knock each other over the head with toys!  Sound like fun?!?!  In the mean time, Flint was at a Razorback football luncheon and according to the guys it was a lot of fun and we {the girls} should go next year!

  So, back to my house.  As nap time rapidly approached our friends started leaving so I turned on "Mickey" in my bedroom as a last ditch effort to get Cilla to sit still and calm down before her nap time.  Great idea, right?  Wrong.  Here is where the story gets a little gross.  *Disclaimer: I don't normally put this kind of grossness out there for everyone to read, but since I use this blog to document our life as the Harris family, I feel like I have to document the good, the bad and the ugly.  And this will go down in the books as "The Ugly!"  Back to the story.  I was picking up and chatting with one of my mommy friends, Candice whose hubbie was also at the luncheon with Flint, when little Laci comes marching into the living room looking for some toilet paper.  {You can probably guess where this is going.}  Candice immediately ran into my bedroom, to find the bio-hazard zone.  Cilla had a "dirty" diaper halfway off and "poo" was smeared all over my bed and upon closer observation all over both girls!!!  WHAT. IN. THE. HECK?!?!  Seriously, next year I am going to the football luncheon!!!

After fumigating the room, hosing down the girls and about four loads of laundry things were back to normal.  Or as normal as normal can be!  We bravely had Laci and her mommy over again tonight while the daddies were busy drafting their football teams.

We were off to a good start by making chocolate chip cookies!  

And all was going well until the tots disappeared out to the deck and the mommies were in the kitchen cleaning up the cookies and making dinner.  They reappear COVERED in sunscreen.  Yep, that's right!  It is ALL over both girls.  ALL over the deck.  ALL over everything in the line of fire!  These two are NUTS!

Are we seeing a reoccurring trend, besides the fact that they need constant supervision?!?!  I am pretty sure these two will be in lots of trouble together over the years.  Heaven help us!

Like I said, never a dull moment!  Never!

Are you Ready for Some Football?!?!

We love football season at the Harris house!  Let me rephrase that.  We pretty much live and breath football all fall and pretty much wait the entire rest of the year for it to start back up.  At least Flint does.  I just love football.

Here are some of the lovlies I have found to help make game day complete!

Time is ticking away.  Hurry and enter the Giveaway for one of two items from Gameday Girl Stuff!

Go to Holy Turf to enter!

Today, Zulily is celebrating Football season!  And why wouldn't they?!?!  They have girl stuff.  Boy stuff.  Mommy stuff.  Tailgate stuff.  Lots and lots of cute stuff!

How cute are these finds?

I LOVE this little dress.....

 and of course I love anything smocked!

I am so sad these were not available in Red and White with Hogs all over them!

But, there were lots and lots of other teams available!

Go here to check out even more cute finds on Zulily.

For this Arkansas born and raised girl, I think this is is just perfect!

I found it here.

I am pretty sure that every little Razorback fan needs one of these!!!

I found it here.

I wish it came in my size!!!

I may just have to stick to some red and white TOMS or a cute and red and white scarf!

A football fan's house is not complete without some little touches of school spirit sprinkled around!

These are just a few of the few things I have found that I love!

Is is for sale on Etsy here.

 I am loving this subtle touch.

Find it here.

If I were a Bama fan, I would have one of these!  I saw this on Pinterest!  Isn't it the cutest?!?!

 The countdown is on.  

12 Days.  15 Hours.  40 Minutes.

I know, I am crazy!  I told you we love football at our house!

Fun with Nana and Poppa

So, I have shown lots of pictures from mine and Flint's time away, but I have left out a really important detail.  Cilla's Nana and Poppa, graciously volunteered to keep our small fry while we had some time away.  I love that they love her so much and I love that she loves them so much.  Win.  Win.  I do not have to worry about ONE thing when Cilla is in their care and for that I am so thankful.  Didn't say I don't worry, just say'n there is no reason to!

Here are a couple of pictures they captured of Miss Priss while the mommy and daddy were away.

All dressed up and heading to church.

Tiny Dancer.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for giving of your time and energy to come love on Cilla.  We really appreciate it and I know she had a blast!

Since this is our family blog it is only right that I post some pictures of Flint's time in Pebble Beach with the guys after the girls headed back east.  The girls left just in time for the weekend when all the guys started showing up.  They played a little golf, played some wiffle ball and of course had a fantasy football draft!

California Getaway: Carmel and Spanish Bay

A couple of mornings we took walks along the beach.  If I could have weather like we had and views like we had I would work out three times each day!  Well, maybe I wouldn't.  But, I like to think that I would!

The golf course on one side of the path....

and the ocean on the other!

Of course we couldn't go a whole three hours without stuffing our faces with some yummy food, so after our morning walk we headed to brunch in Carmel.  We found these beautiful flowers while strolling around after town and the hubbies thought we should get a picture in front of them!  You don't have to look far to see beautiful, vibrant colored flowers in Carmel, unlike home this time of the year!

One thing that must be on your list of things to do while in the area is visit Spanish Bay in the evening to hear the bagpipes.  There are fire pits all around so you can enjoy the view of the ocean, the golf course and of course, the infamous Bagpiper.  

 

The view.

Good company.

The Bagpiper.

We had such a fun trip.  We missed Cilla like crazy, but it was nice to be away for a few days and get to be in adult mode without life revolving around the schedule of a two year old.

California Getaway: Pebble Beach

Catching up on vacay pictures!

After a stop in Palo Alto and some lovely California style traffic, we finally made it to our destination for the week.  

We are super blessed to have a fab place to stay in Pebble Beach and boy do we love to get to take it all in!

That's right.  We are in jeans and sweaters in August!  It was glorious!

So were the views and the company!

We headed over to The Lodge our first day in town for the best burger you could imagine!

Lunch at The Tap Room

The U.S. Open trophy.  Held in Pebble in 2010.  Soon to be relocated.

Pebble Beach clock.

Beautiful flowers.

The 18th.

The weather was overcast.  The tide was low.  And the water was calm while we were there.  But the views are still tough to beat.

The beauty never ceases to amaze me and neither do the size of these homes!