my little sister got married

Last Friday we drove 12 hours down to Florida for my sister’s wedding weekend. We stayed at the Lighthouse; my parents rented three Coast Guard cottages for us, them, my grandparents, aunts, and the bridal wedding party. Whirlwind trip, we drove home Monday.

These are all photos I took, and I tried to choose ones for this post that together give an overall picture of her wedding…

My three little flower girls, right before we went up to the dressing room to get ready.

(One of) my beautiful sister(s):

These were during the photo session, pre-ceremony:

(Later on, there was a cocktail hour on this terrace while the wedding party was busy with post-ceremony photos.  Apparently there was a fabulous mocha punch I missed out on.)

My mom:

Looking down from the terrace:

Right after the ceremony & the beginning of family photos, Cassandra & Shane with my parents:

The Dad/Daughter dance, she chose this – fitting, no?

Candy bar for party favors:

Arianna, making sure we were watching and then running off to dance:

Arianna was a maniac – danced 1.5 hours nonstop.

Into the getaway car, and sparklers! (I LOVE her bouquet in this one!)

And, the very second we buckled her carseat:

OUT.

pulling {and pushing back}

Five little people, each tugging me in a different direction. Husband with his own needs (love, dinner, and clean underwear), and a house (or two) that is always pulling on me. Dishes and laundry get their own category; not to mention groceries, friends, church, God.

It’s really no wonder I feel soo stretched, always juggling and often dropping. I am only two hands, one person. Clearly I can’t do everything or even try. I’m trying to re-direct, focus on things that I’ve been wanting to do but never seem to have the time and energy for. The dishes and cooking and laundry will all get done because they have to.

So here’s me pushing back today. I have clean hair, painted toes. I’ve been wanting to share these beach photos from a month ago and so I am.

Today.

jammie chat

It is so sweet to wake up to these two every morning.  Arianna is HILARIOUS.  I could talk to her all day.  And I do!  We’ve been letting her run around in “ondies” and she’s been doing great!  No accidents and gummy bears all around.

Last week wasn’t so wonderful (keeping it real) but this week is rolling along much better.  A few bumps.  Like Monday we tried to meet Nicky & Co. at the splashpad and they had closed for thunder RIGHT before we got there.  She was already inside so we had to chat through the fence.  They finally let us in after the cloud passed and we got to swim and play so all’s well that ends well.

Tuesday Drew had speech and he asked for a milkshake because he was so good.  Yeah right, I’m not buying you 16 weeks of milkshakes.  But nice try. (I guess ‘speech’ isn’t really the right term, but he’s doing a program at a reading/language/hearing center this summer.)

And speaking of Drew, Andy made a big mistake and signed him up for a soccer camp for this week, but missed that the brochure was for 2011.  Yeah, whoops!!  They got there yesterday morning and – no camp.  So sad for Drew, he’s been talking about this for MONTHS.  But on the bright side, I think I found another one that starts in a week and a half.

Madeline has 7 more days with her cast.  I told her last night we’re gonna have a cast-off party and have some cupcakes.  She goes, “do I get presents?!”  Um, no.  Just sugar.  We will both be so glad when this is behind us and it’s going to be right in time for our FL trip.  Big yay.

I shared this on FB and will also put here – the girls have been in a couple of commercials this summer… one was for a friend’s pool business and this is the second:

Just kinda funny, we’ve never done anything like that before and the two were filmed within four days of each other. (I was never involved in my dad’s campaign ads but my sisters were.) Anyway, sharing just for fun. We’ve already gotten quite a few texts, emails, and FB messages asking if it really was Madeline they saw on TV. Hilarious. It’s the pink zebra sparkle cast!

my milkaholic

So I’ve been playing with new camera settings a lot (i.e. when I have time to breathe). This girl is an easy target.

She begs for milk constantly.

This is what I got when I said “show me your eyes!”

(Only edits to those photos were to resize to fit inside a blog post. I’m having trouble with clear images on facebook but they seem okay on my blog… at least on my preview screen. ha.)

mother’s day 2012

kids on Easter

I put these on Facebook, but forgot to put them here, too. Better late then never, yes?

(Our family shot was one of the ones that got cleared off my laptop Sunday night. ha. I may or may not retrieve it – it was a bit blurry anyway.)

the little guy

(This post entirely meant to entice grandmas to come for a visit.)

Small Style – ruffles, what else?

I have a number of things stressing me out right now (like my airbag system light just came on – what does that even mean?) so instead I’m going to focus on the fluff. Like my chunker 2-year-old who makes me laugh.

On Arianna – a little top I picked up at Target, flouncy skirt from Old Navy, and Livie & Luca shoes. The muddy knees were free!

Linking up with,

DPP – just so you know ;)

Well…. I’m letting myself off the hook for the December Photo Project. I may or may not keep it up or just skip random days. We’re going to my parents’ for Christmas and it’s a HUGE trip to get ready for and I feel overwhelmed just thinking about it.

That said, I did snap some shots of Arianna playing yesterday morning when it was quiet and the other kids were at school. She drug around Ethan’s carseat and buckled her babies in a bunch of times.

DPP 12 – cinnamon toast

I have the hardest time getting my kids to eat a good breakfast before school in the mornings. They’d eat bacon or sausage every day if we had it. They also always ask for cinnamon toast, and I blame my mom for introducing it to them. ;) Andy always jokes (in his best mimic-them voice) “we’ll eat… sugar bread and… fat.”

(December Photo Project)

DPP 11 – cradle

We had lunch over at my cousin Vangie’s house on Sunday after church. My girls loved the wooden cradle – Arianna was in and out about fifty times.

And, some bonus photos… Sunday was also the children’s Christmas program at church – Cookin’ Up Christmas. So cute. (Video clip HERE, you can see Adelaide and Drew great!)

(December Photo Project)

DPP 10 – bad girl

We’re 4 for 5 for climbers.

(December Photo Project)

DPP 9

While I was at church eating chocolate, Andy and the kids made chicken corn chowder and had big fun doing these Christmas projects I found 60% off at JoAnn’s. (I spent a whopping whole $10.) They LOVED it. Give my kids foam stickers, felt, glue, and glitter and they are in h-e-a-v-e-n.

(December Photo Project)

DPP 8 – Christmas Dinner

Last night was the Ladies’ Christmas Dinner at church. Pictured here we have Italian Creme Cake, Kahlua Cake, Candy Bar Brownie, Peanutbutter/Pecan Pie, and Fruit Trifle.

No, I did not eat it all.


(December Photo Project)

DPP 7 – Twirl

She never stops.

(December Photo Project)

DPP 6 – fun mail day

I LOVE Christmastime/post Black Friday mail. Makes even a dreary rainy day better.

(December Photo Project)

DPP 3, 4, 5

This was from Saturday morning and completely coincidental but an awesome baby book shot. Could not have planned it better!

He’s a non-discriminating thumb-sucker.

Sunday afternoon…

Help! My big sister is trying to give me a mohawk!

And from this morning, before school. Found them in the ditch.

Yes, she did.

DPP 2 – Before & After

This afternoon the kids were walking around trying to balance various items on their heads. Then they’d stand on one foot or attempt a scale.

Adelaide’s hair has been driving me more and more crazy. Finally tonight I pulled out the scissors and took care of business.

She looked in the mirror and goes “oh, that’s cute.”

The back…

Okay, I feel better now.

December Photo Project