Monday, May 24, 2010

Random morning things

Danielle had fallen asleep on the couch last night so we left her there. I had to find my camera and call everyone into the room to see this this morning....

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Sleeping Beauty...yes she is truly sleeping, not just blinking. She stayed in this position for some time. You have to wonder what her dreams are made of.

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School beauty....Olivia did NOT want to go to school this morning. She hemmed and hawed and dragged her feet. It killed me to "make" her go but she did....

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Can I just say that I'm super pysched that there's only 4 more weeks of school left!!! WOOHOOOOO! *does a little dance in her chair*

Beauty of an owie...Sean woke up with his ankle like this, I'm assuming it's a bite.

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Fortunately it looks a lot better already. I was so worried that we were dealing with cellulitis. I was sure we were headed into the doctors. Looks like we'll be able to avoid that.

As for everything else that's going on here. Can I just say...it was so much easier when the kids were all little. Well emotionally and mentally at least. Physically the little ones will the toughest gig award. There's nothing terrible or really bad going on here. Just some things weighing heavily on my heart. It's so hard when your kids may have to suffer through an experience. You just want to jump ontop of them and block the blows for them. Hopefully in a few days we'll be back to blissfully boring around here. LOL

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Wedding...The rest of the story

Now I get to share random pictures that I like. Only problem is that I don't feel right sharing some as I'm not sure how the people in them feel about being posted online. So as much as I'd like to share even more....most of the pictures will be of my family. (lucky you! lol)

Drew and Tom enjoying a lighthearted moment before the ceremony
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Jake experiencing some sisterly love on the dance floor
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Allison with all the yummy offerings of the night.
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Sean and D showing us their dance moves. Sean proceeded to roll from one side of the hall to the other numerous times.
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Pat giving his speech as the best man. He said some words then told Drew he wanted to give him some words of advice. Then he said...

We're no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment's what I'm thinking of
You wouldn't get this from any other guy

I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

In the middle of it Drew realized what Pat was saying and yelled out....I'm being Rick Rolled!!! Hysterical laughter ensued.

Drew and Allison getting pictures taken with my parents. A song came on that Allison didn't really like so she's telling him to go turn it off.
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And he did...after he took his time dancing over to the laptop.
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(I realized when previewing this that Drew seems mad in this picture...not so, they were fooling around)

Allison showing us her best bouquet throwing technique
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Guess who caught it...
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Allison said to me...Apparently Val has an awesome jump shot. I threw the bouquet and turned around and she was still in the air. lol

Cory and Jake
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Ashley and Alex dancing with the baby
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The boys playing. (The person in the back is the hands for the person in the front)
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Val and John with Sean
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Pat and Alex...the next wedding in the family...Nov 13th.
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Friday, May 21, 2010

Wedding...the plot

A handsome young man with 2 of his best friends

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Meets a beautiful lady with 2 of her ladies in waiting.

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They invite a Justice of the Peace (who also happens to have taught both of them 8th grade history...he's since retired from that position) to a party with a few of their closest friends

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And it turns into a....

WEDDING!!!

Allison's dad giving her away

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View of Drew during ceremony
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Allison during the ceremony
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First kiss as husband and wife
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Yay! Look at us!
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Onto a beautiful life together
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Things got a little confused after that. They were going to have a receiving line which didn't last long before they ventured out to take pictures at the falls in a different part of the park.

To get to the falls you had to take a .6 mile long trail with a huge section of stairs. Leg eating stairs. Poor Angie bit the dust and got pretty scraped up. By the end of the night the scraped up leg didn't hurt...the other one was killing though.

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The group shot
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Back up the stairs to the reception
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KIDDING!
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Next up...the rest of the story (will probably be tomorrow or Sunday)

Wedding...the cast of characters

One glowing bride and her bridesmaids

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Allison with bestfriend from college Angie on the left and maid of honor and best friend forever Ashley on the right. (Ashley made the cake shown in the last post)

One handsome groom and his guys

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Cousin Joey on the left, brother and best man Pat on the right.

Luke and Jake
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My older girls

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Val, Michelle, Liz and Carrie


Eileen and Olivia
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Danielle
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She was dressed in a really cute dress but didn't quite make it to the bathroom in time shortly after the ceremony. In her defense, the bathrooms were quite a long distance from the reception hall.

Sean
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Funny story...The next day Della told me that someone made a comment that I probably had so much on my mind that I forgot shoes for Sean. Then Sean walked in with only socks on! The truth...he had TWO pairs of sneaks there!!! One pair was plain white with glitter laces that used to be Danielle's...the kids refused to put them on him in his finest. The other were his white and blue sneaks that I threw in the back window of the car before we left. No one could find them. My BIL Ed found them in the back of the van when we were packing up the van to leave. Hey at least he had matching socks on. The fact that they were the proper colored socks was a bonus.

The handsome father of the groom (I was so enamored with him that I followed him home!)
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Me, Tom, my mom and my dad
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Sorely missed...My MIL, FIL and Billy :o(

Wedding....the setting

I'm finally getting the pictures up. Sorry for the delay. Because there are so many pictures, I'm going to break this down into multiple posts.

We have one beautiful falls...

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One reception hall

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Workers prepping

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Liz and Eileen (in the orange) working across from Alex. Michelle (on the right) working with Val in the back.

Hall gets spiffed up a bit

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with a yummy cake to share

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and appetizers

Cheese and veggie table

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chocolate fountains

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We had a small fountain with pink "chocolate" in it and a larger one with milk chocolate. They were big hits, unfortunately our reserve chocolate was scorched beyond use when I tried to keep them warm in a crockpot.

Next...the cast of characters

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Where is my brain?

OK, granted I have a major headache right now but really. How does a mom forget to wake up their kid for school? Cause that's what I did just now. I was busy here and doing things with Sean. Got up to get him a bowl of cereal and thought...wow! I can't believe Danielle is still asleep and looked at the clock. I was then shocked to see it was only 8:30! I had to double check to make sure I was right and then it was...oh crap! I never woke up Olivia for school, the bus will be here in minutes! Oh well, I guess Olivia gets a day off because I am NOT going to stress her out and make her try to make the bus and my head hurts too much to drive her to school right now. It wouldn't be so bad if she hadn't already missed so much school.

It's not the only time I flaked out this week. I forgot I was invited to Della's on Tuesday night until about an hour after I was suppose to be there. Last night I forgot the kids had cleaning at church and there was a meeting for married sisters. Well I remembered the married sisters meeting at about the time it was due to start. But in my defense...I was locked in my room, having a MUCH needed cuddle with my husband (and I mean CUDDLE...so get your minds out of the gutter!) Then Tom was out the door to get Michelle from work and the kids were freaking out and clamoring for me because I was inaccessible for more then 2 minutes.

Hopefully I can keep my head about me the rest of the day. Right now Danielle and Sean are dressed and waiting to go outside with Olivia. When Olivia found out what I'd done, her response was...Thank you. lol Val's friend Brittany is here, they have big plans with Michelle before she has to go to work. (maybe I'll luck out and they'll take Michelle to work today for me!)

I have a ton of wedding pictures to share! Michelle took 859 of them. The problem is trying to decide which ones. Plus they are on the other computer that the kids use. So finding time to get over there and doing it can be hard at times.

My house is a mess still. I have 5 boxes in the van and car to take care of still. And in true shut down form, I took crochet hook in hand and started creating. Well this screen isn't helping my head so this will be short (for me lol)

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Where to begin?

There is so much swirling through my mind that I don't even know where to begin. Let's just say that yesterday was a thrilling, beautiful, exhausting day. I don't have any pictures yet. Everyone (except Sean) is still sleeping and I have no idea who had and where my camera is right now. Michelle was the "official" wedding photographer so I can't wait to see her photos. She's one of my artistic ones and really has an eye for those things, I'm sure they'll be great. I'm hoping one of the pictures I asked her to take comes out well since I'd like to use it as a gift for an upcoming birthday.

The bride was beautiful and glowing. The groom was quite handsome with just the right amount of nervous and very tender. I was giggling to myself because I wondered if Allison's hands were getting chapped with Drew caressing them so much during the ceremony.

The food was good if I do say so myself. There were some negatives that occurred and hopefully most of them stayed in the kitchen. I'm trying not to dwell on that part of the day. Let's just say I learned some things. (like crockpots are too hot to hold melted chocolate well...I knew I should've tested it first!) My dad and sister ended up working their fannies off with me...along with my sister's husband and brother. It was fun being in the kitchen with them.

Before we started getting ready yesterday I was heard saying...I wouldn't do this (cater an event) for a side job/pocket money. It would have to be an all or nothing venture...you either have a catering business or not. This morning though...I'm rethinking that and whether a business would be feasible. With my sister out of work...hmmm. Then the grandiose thoughts come in. When thinking the setup I'd want, it's mega bucks...catering truck with working kitchen, warming boxes and lots of refrigeration so I don't have to unpack everything immediately after working. One that I could use for a traveling lunch/dinner. Then I get out of my chair for something and I think...ugh! ooch! ouch! I'm no spring chicken anymore.

And now it's nighttime. I've gone to a baby shower for my nephew's wife and taken Allison back to her and Drew's apartment. My house is a MESS with boxes and boxes of stuff laying around. I have it on ignore right now. I'm sure it'll be waiting for me tomorrow. I haven't decided if I'm returning unopened packages of plastic ware or not. I guess I'll have to more it soon or someone will turn the package into an opened one (if they haven't already). Right now I'm leaning on keeping it for summer use.

I was hoping to share pictures tonight but I can't keep my eyes opened to do the work for it. So hopefully I'll get to it tomorrow.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Crunch time

We're almost ready! I couldn't quite finish my shopping last night so today's list is a bit longer then I wanted it to be. The problem wasn't lack of time or trying (although I was exhausted by the time we got home). It was lack of space...the car (and our laps) couldn't hold another stinkin thing!

Last night wasn't all work and no play. Tom, who hates shopping with a passion decided he'd go with me and Eileen...who was going with me so she could look for shoes. He kept joking to Eileen that he was being so annoying (in a nerdy way), that mom would never want him to go along again. I told him he wasn't getting off the hook that easily! That I'd gladly have him go whenever he wanted. Pretty sad when that's the staple of our alone time...shopping.

On the way to Aldi's I realized that we couldn't go there due to lack of funds (payday is today and they don't take credit cards). So I took the time to finally get my eyebrows waxed! I've been wanting to do it for a while. I've asked the girls to do it but the time never came around. Then Michelle had a coupon for supercuts and a plan was formed. I was going to get them done Sunday, no Monday, ok maybe Tuesday. I had just given up on the idea all together when the window opened. So my mini caveman look is now a thing of the past...for this week at least. lol We also took about 45mins and went to the Chinese buffet. YUM! I hadn't been there in a while. I did notice though that they've cut back on quite a few of their main selections. Probably how they could offer it for rock bottom price. No crablegs so I had to opt for the steamed teeny clams and cooked shrimp. Poor me! ;o)

Tom saw how tired I was at our last stop and said he was driving home. I think he really offered to do it because he was sick of grabbing at the dashboard and putting on his imaginary brakes. (I do the same when he's driving). We had a torrential downpour on the way home. I kept thinking Tom was going to pull over to wait it out a few times but he didn't. I don't think I'd have done so well, especially since I dozed off a few times. The kids were all up (except Danielle and Sean) and helped empty the car. I sat on the kitchen floor and attempted to jam everything into the fridge. We ended up using one cooler (luckily there was a bag of ice in the freezer) and I had to sacrifice a few condiments but we did it...just don't open the fridge door please.

Michelle is my super organizer and it's nice that she's using her talents to my benefit. Yesterday she went off my master list of what we're serving and what type of bowl/basket/tray and serving utensils we'll need and started packing boxes. Her and Liz labeled each thing with what it's used for and put it in a box for a specific area. So anyone can take the chocolate fountain box and they'll be able to set it up without asking me any questions. We'll try to do the same with the food, although I think we need more boxes for that.

So today on my todo list is...

Quick run to the store for the rest of my list
Iron the men's shirts (gotta get rid of the packing creases)
Finish tying the silverware
Pack the boxes
Pack the van
Cook bacon
Make kabobs
Laundry
Clean the house...reason I let the kids stay home from school lol

My main problem is not giving in to the "you don't have enough" worry. There is a LOT of food, if we run out they can eat something else. If anyone goes hungry, it's their fault. *repeats over and over again*

Well my coffee is almost gone and the list isn't going to get itself done. Not sure if I'll get in here before we leave tomorrow. If not, then I'll hopefully have a lot of pictures to share next time I'm here....and a new daughter!

Oh bummer! Our out of town guest just called....he's not coming. There's going to be some disappointed little ones here.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Major shopping day g trm,n

Two days until the wedding! EEEK! Actually I think we've got our act together pretty well. It helps that I've had tons of time to think today...I've been tossing and turning since about 2am. I finally got up at 2:45 and surfed the net until Sean woke up and wanted me at 4. Then it was back into bed. I'm sure I dozed a few minutes here or there but not much. Next thing I knew the birds were singing and Sean was snoring...so out of bed I climbed to write down everything I'd been thinking. I now have each food item and exactly what I'll need to prep, cook, and serve it written down in my handy dandy wedding notebook.

Everyone went to school today. Or at least the last of them (Olivia) is about to go. Yep! She's getting on the bus right now. I think they're all planning on staying home tomorrow though. We have company from out of state and there's a lot to do or think about doing...so i said they could stay home.

Tonight is my major shopping trip. I'm hoping I've got everything I need on my list and won't have any last minute runs to make tomorrow. Saturday is a different story. Can I just say GRRRRRR! When someone puts in an order you'd think it meant you put stuff aside so you were assured to have it when it was needed. But nope, not always. I got a phone call yesterday morning to tell me the place I ordered my crusty rolls from were out and wouldn't be getting any more this week. I had 200 rolls ordered!!! So instead of nice golden brown artisan crusty rolls, I have to have pale, plain mini kaiser rolls. To top it off, it's going to cost me more as the packages are smaller, so I had to order more. Unfortunately the incident let Sean relearned a new name...poopie heads! I don't know how many times I said it before Sean decided it was hilarious and started saying it too. BAD MOMMY!

Well I have my work cut out for me. Need to make some room in the fridge and clean the kitchen so I can dirty it again. Laundry is screaming to be done. Kids crying for attention. So I'm out of here!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Down to the nitty gritty

It's go time for the wedding. Less then four three days to go. (started this post last night) Yesterday (Monday) Michelle and I left early in the afternoon and went the looooong way to work, like the opposite direction long. lol We stopped at a few stores and I put in some orders to be picked up first thing Saturday morning. So we'll have a few stops on the way to the reception hall. I took Michelle to work, picked up my dad and made a few more stops. I think I've gotten all the tableware I need. I'll probably inventory and rethink one more time. We're talking about starting to pack the van since there's a lot of stuff and I don't have any room for it.

The girls spent yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon tying the "silver" ware together and putting them into our picnic basket...until we ran out of ribbon (oh rats! forgot to buy more last night). I think it's going to be a nice touch. They also finished up dewaxing the 54 votive holders I'd bought at the thrift store.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon checking prices of things...mostly cheese. I LOOOOOVE cheese so it's hard for me to pick a few to put out on the cheese trays. While out last week we had a cheese monger offer us a taste of an aged gouda. OMGoodness!!! Who needs crackers when you have this cheese! Val and I were addicted, until I saw the $15.98/lb price tag. Then it changed to slightly addicted. I decided to splurge and bought a tiny wedge (considering it my mother's day present lol)...we're still rationing it. YUM!

I had a small panic moment last night. I thought I'd lost my list. I'm always making lists, and losing them. This one though is one I NEED to keep, it's my master shopping list. Everything I need to buy divided up by stores. Luckily I found it when I got home from dropping Michelle off at work, price matching and picking a few things up. Every time I come home loaded down with grocery bags the kids start to look for something to eat/munch. They're getting pretty bummed that there's nothing for them, it's for the wedding. I'll have to try to pick up something for them today.

With me being gone most nights things are falling apart around here a bit. Although I have to thank Liz, she's picked up the slack quite a bit since she's been home. Still it would be nice if I could walk in the door before 10 and not find them eating dinner. Or looking for some. (they manage to snack between school and dinner though...so they aren't starving)

Today Michelle is going into work early. I think I'll stop at the dollar store and get some more serving dishes/trays/baskets and liners. Then onto Walmart to grab soda and water. Maybe I'll even get in a run to the Salvation Army since it's Wed and family day with a lot of ticket colors half off (although I'm not sure if bric brac is included in that). Hopefully Tom will leave early to pick up Michelle and get the beer. Tonight I have to figure out if anyone needs anything else for their outfits. I think Luke and Jake could do with belts and new socks.

Tomorrow is my major shopping day minus the really perishable stuff. Friday will be shopping for the loose ends, packing the van and making up kabobs. Everything else is waiting until Saturday morning/afternoon.

The plan for Saturday is to leave here at 8:30am. Stop at 2 stores to pick up the last minute things...getting to the reception hall at 10 which gives me 6hrs until the ceremony. Easy peasy! lol

Ok...time to put on my chauffeur cap, grab my wallet and head out the door.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Danielle's premier music video

Danielle has a slight crush on Justin Bieber. She's got the words to his song Baby down pretty well and sings it all the time...even A Capella (I know someone took a video of that too). She's about to go into Ludacris's part at the end. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know all those words.

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Is it June yet:?

No, I don't really wish it was June. At least not most of the time. I want to live through the next week or so. I just want someone to do the work that I need to do in order to enjoy it. lol I've hardly been home all week and I don't see that changing next week. There's a ton to do...ordering, planning, shopping, planning, packing, planning. The ONLY reason why I want this wedding to be over (well besides that Drew and Allison will finally be married) is so my brain can slow down a bit. The rest of the month is pretty much no brainers....wedding that I'm only attending and a soccer tournament and feast.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing this type of thing. I just didn't expect it to be all consuming in my brain like it is. What's going to be on the chocolate bar? How will it be presented? What dishes/trays will I use to put it out? When and where should I buy it? (you can't buy everything on Friday! Or can I?) And on and on and on.... I think it's mostly that I have to bring EVERYTHING with me. There's no running into the house, rummaging through the cupboards or drawers for a useable utensil or platter like I do at graduation parties. If it's not there...it's not there!

On a good note, Sean's temperament has changed immensely. He's been a bit harsh and negative lately...especially to Danielle. He can be brutal to her. But since about 2am Wednesday morning, he's been looking like this....



and this....



The reason....



LIZ IS HOME!!!!!!

His reaction and change in demeanor has really surprised me. He's happier and calmer. He just melts in Liz's arms whenever he can. I picked up Liz from the airport just after midnight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. She woke up the kids to say hi when she got here. She picked up Sean who took a second to figure out who had him. Then a HUGE contented smile came across his face, he threw his arms open and wrapped them around her neck and stayed there...not saying anything...just hugging her for a long time. The smile didn't leave his face for almost 3 days.

I had more to share but right now I'm suppose to be getting ready for the day. We're heading to church. It's the May conference with lots of encouragement, fellowship, fun, and exhaustion. It's looking to be miserable out with rain, winds in excess of 50+ mph and snow tonight, so it'll be a challenge keeping Sean and Danielle warm and dry. Guess I better pack a few changes of clothes and shoes for the day.

Hope everyone's weekend is great.