Dabo's ladies clinic 2016

If you read this blog on a fairly regular basis,  you've probably picked up on the fact that I like Clemson...A LOT. Yes, I admit it, I am obsessed with Clemson football and straight up STALK all things football. I am shocked that I never went to the ladies clinic before this year, but that has all changed. I plan to go every year from now on unless I have a major scheduling conflict. It was awesome. Completely awesome. Especially for football psychos like me. :)

The thing I liked best was just getting an inside look at the football and athletic offices and facilities. We were inside the indoor practice building, the locker room, the weight room, the meeting room, etc., etc. It was so cool! There were also lots of former and current players, along with Dabo and all of the assistant coaches. They all were so friendly and willing to chat, sign autographs, answer questions and take pictures. It was seriously the best day ever!

Here are a few pictures from the day with my Clemson tribe.

Group shot with Coach Dabo Swinney (nicest man in the world!)

Group shot in the locker room

Put us in, Coach!

5 Star Defensive Back Recruit ;)

The countdown clock in the weight room has the
time down to the second!

The "Get Back Guy" for Coach Venebles

Showing Dabo a picture of the boys and asking
him to sign their book!

Corey with Dabo

The man, the myth, the legend. Our HBC

Coach Tony Elliott and me

Carole and me with the Tiger Cub

Carole and the Cub

Carole with one of Dabo's sons - Clay.
Isn't he adorable?!?!

Corey and me inside the showers in the locker room

Posing with Tyshon Dye and Albert Huggins

Me with former player Tyler Grisham
He was always a favorite of mine...hmmm...
I wonder why!!! #crushalert

Our tribe with Howard's Rock

It was such a special day and a real treat for me to go. I loved hanging out with the players, which by the way, were so polite and so sweet! Lots of "yes, ma'am"s. I hope they don't act that way on the field, but with the ladies, they were first class gentlemen!

I appreciated Thomas staying home to watch the guys so that I could spend the day in Tiger Town. Unfortunately, Stokes had an upset tummy and threw up 3 times during the course of the ladies clinic. I felt so bad for Stokes and for Thomas! By the time I got home that evening, he was feeling much better, thank goodness!

My poor baby.

I am already looking forward to the 2017 Ladies Clinic. Sign me up! I've got it on my calendar and do not want to miss it!

Former players that I got to talk to: Thomas Austin (he was our group leader), DeAndre McDaniel (one of my defensive faves from a few years ago) and of course, former tight end, Tyler Gresham (hottie!!!). Where was Tajh?!?! Maybe he'll be around next year. Current players that I saw and/or talked to included: Christian Wilkins, Tyshon Dye, Wayne Gallman, Kelly Bryant, Hunter Renfrow, Cornell Powell, Tanner Muse, J.C. Chalk, Adam Choice, Jalen Williams, JD and Judah Davis, Grant Radakovich, Will Spiers, Jabril Robinson, Jay Guillermo, Scott Pagano, Maverick Morris, Kanyon Tuttle, Austin Bryant, Greg Huegel, Clelin Ferrell, and Albert Huggins - that's all I can remember. There were probably more! Pretty impressive, huh! We sure did miss Deshaun though.  

Brainwashed

On the eve of the Dabo's Ladies Clinic, which I am attending for the first year ever, I thought I might leave you with this tiger love. Hey, if you're going to brainwash your kids, it should be for the important stuff in life, like loving the Clemson Tigers and our quarterback, Deshaun Watson (he's the BEST). ;)

Pictures of the boys in their jerseys. Why, oh why, can't I get a good picture of all three of them!?!?!?

Happy boy

Sweet little tiger cub

New "inchstone" breakthrough

I got a call from Ryan's physical therapist on Tuesday. He doesn't typically have PT on Tuesdays but Ashley had an opening and fit him in for an appointment (he's now only scheduled for once a week and then we try to add in another appointment based on Ashley's schedule). Normally she will just text me any updates but this update warranted more than a text!

When I answered the call, Ashley was very happy to inform me that Ryan had a GREAT appointment! She went on to tell me some of the awesome things he did.

We've been consistently working with Ryan to crawl to an object such as a table or chair, put his hands on it, then get himself into a kneeling position, pull one of his feet up (see picture below), and then we assist him to stand up. Assistance is typically just some support around his hips and a little nudge to get him moving up and he will bring that other foot up to a standing position. Assistance is really minimal. He can then stand by himself while holding on to said object, and then sometimes will even cruise around it. Over this past weekend, I noticed Ryan crawl up to a bin full of books, grab on and lift up his foot by himself. That's as far as he got, but I saw it, and noticed it, and was really proud. Apparently in PT this week, not only did he lift his foot up by himself, but he actually stood up.....BY HIMSELF. As in, ON HIS OWN. Ashley was beside herself and I was in shock when she was telling me about it. Not only did he just do it once, he repeated several times.

Then she tells me that he also stood by himself for 17 seconds, and then followed it up with a 10 second stand. Y'all, this is major. Stop and count to 17 seconds and you can realize how long that actually is!

Our mantra: Go, Ryan, Go!!!!

Party time

Some combination of the boys and I attended parties this past weekend and had a blast! Thomas was out of town with his buddies for a guys weekend and MaSha was in town and spent time with the boys and me and helped us out.

Friday night was a little trying with a code brown issue and a vom on the carpet (neither one of which happen often AT ALL) so I was really glad that my rugrats kids waited until I was on my own to have these magical moments [insert sarcasm]. It was a tough night. It's times like these when I really appreciate having Thomas around most of the time and when I think of how brave, selfless and strong single moms are, and just how much I admire them. That's a tough job.

On to the good stuff!

Saturday we went to Grayson's shark themed pool party! I took both Stokes and William with me to swim and Ryan stayed at home with MaSha. The boys had so much fun and even went off the diving board for the very first time! Our neighborhood pool doesn't have a diving board so it was really exciting to have this new adventure. Stokes had no fear, of course, and just marched down to the end of the board and off he went. The first few times, I was in the deep end to catch him after he jumped in. After a while though, he didn't even need me there waiting on him. He's a daredevil. William, on the other hand, was a little more cautious and would walk down to the end and then sit down on his bottom and I'd have to get out of the pool and get him off the board so that other kids could continue jumping. He actually did end up jumping off, on the side of the board, while I was holding his hand, toward the end of the party. He has to work up to these kinds of things. My friend, Stacey, Grayson's mom, is an amazing party planner and made the party and all the little details so cute and perfect. She was so relieved that the rain that was threatening to ruin the party stayed away! Toward the end, my boys did not want to leave. I basically had to bribe them with the fact that they could go home and see their MaSha!

William with the shark pic prop

Stokes

Time to eat!

Playing in the pool

Lot of friend and pool toys to play with

He loves the water

Here he goes!
He's waving to Stacey

Action shot

I'm trying to walk William as far out as possible

He jumped off the side (with my help) and Stacey's
dad was there to help him in the water

So cute!

Cake time

Happy birthday to you; happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Grayson.....happy birthday to you!

Opening some fun presents!

Stokes, Grayson, William and Landon
Love these kiddos

William giving Stacey a hug

Stokes giving Stacey a hug

Later that afternoon, MaSha and I helped the boys drive their Jeeps on our road to a cul-de-sac to play. I've only ever let them "drive" in our garage and driveway (and some into our grass). There were tears and tantrums and a few tires riding up on the curb, but all in all, they did pretty well and it was fun, albeit hot and sweaty fun. I didn't get any pictures of our Jeep road trip. Sad. MaSha spent the night at our house on Saturday night and she and I watched a movie after the boys went to bed. It was a not-so-crazy slumber party!

On Sunday we took the boys to church and then we split up again. All the boys went to the nursery while I went to the 9:55 service and MaSha went to Sunday school. Then MaSha took Stokes with her to the 11:15 service and back to her house for the afternoon. She says he behaved during the service (with the help of the snack cup). Thank goodness! I took Ryan and William to the McCrary's house for a baptism brunch after their new baby, Madeline, was baptized at the 9:55 service. Madeline did awesome during the baptism and did not make a peep. Her brothers managed to solicit a few laughs from the congregation though. The brunch at Kasey and Justin's house was just beautiful. The food was great, they had lots of friends come to celebrate and there were plenty of kids for the boys to play with there.

Pictures from Madeline's baptism brunch:

All the Wills (and William)...both big and small
William is apparently a popular name in our
small group

All the Wills + Justin, whose first
name is actually William

All the kids at the brunch!

This progression is funny

LOL

What a fun bunch. There were even several kids that were missing from the picture....just being toddlers. HA!

Thomas finally got back from Knoxville around 5 or so and the boys and I were so excited to see him! He actually left Thursday straight from work and by the time he got home on Sunday, it felt like it had been way too long. We really missed him! MaSha brought Stokes back around 6 pm and we were finally reunited; it was a great feeling!

I learned that Dada is never allowed to have a boys weekend again - just kidding - but I did realize how much I miss him when he's not here and how much he helps us all. I also learned that splitting up the boys at times can be a good thing. It's more manageable to go somewhere with 2 vs 3 and that it's awesome for the 3rd little guy to have some one-on-one time with MaSha, whom they just adore. MaSha truly made the weekend so much easier on me and I'm grateful for all her help and support and love.