All Dolled Up

Last weekend we packed up the family vehicle and joined Jon in Charlotte to attend a wedding. Because I am from Ohio, my original thoughts on the date of April 24th for a wedding were something like this…

April 24th? Wow? Really? Short sleeves? Long sleeves? Heels? Or Boots!!??

WHAT IF IT SNOWS!?!?!?

But…none of that applies…because it was in North Carolina. The weather was great. A solid 80 degrees…a few showers in the evening. Nothing monumental enough to put a hitch in the festivities though.

The wedding was beautiful. For the first time since my wedding I actually teared up a few times. Brad fought hard for Lisa. He’s loved her for as long as he’s known her. Through all their young adult struggles he never gave up on loving her, so when they danced their first dance, I cried. Tears of joy for Brad.

The wedding gave me the perfect opportunity to get pictures of my brats, all dolled up.

In our defense, Mom did actually try to do something with Maggie’s hair. Unfortunately, it didn’t hold up.

And, I promise she was NOT drunk. She just LOOKS like she is.

Liam was cute as a button.

And, I promise he was not drunk either. That’s Coca Cola in that thar wine glass.

Sam cleaned up pretty alright too…due MOSTLY to the haircut he got that morning!

And, yes, I promise…those beers belong to Steve and Carolina. The purse belongs to Steve.

Well, ok, not really. But doesn’t it go perfect with his eyes?

Jon and I didn’t do too bad ourselves.

And I do believe that the last picture I got of me, Mom and Steve together may have been when I got married over 10 years ago.

Try as I might, I cannot recall if Steve had hair then or not?

And, of course, Mom and James.

And yes, they were getting drunk. Well, maybe not drunk, but we’ll go with happy!

Yea, happy, that’s it!

Fun was had by all, except possibly for Liam. Who spent the entire evening drinking Coke after Coke and asking every 5 minutes when we were leaving.

He had bigger fish to fry. A hot tub to get in.

I wish and pray all the best for Brad and Lisa, for MANY, MANY years to come.

I love you all!

Coca Cola…Ahhhh!

The kids had a new pleasure last weekend. Coke from a bottle. A glass bottle!

You know what I’m talkin’ about…Coke the way it was meant to be drunk.

Obviously, Liam had a solid appreciation of the privilege involved.

Obviously, Sam did not.

It was a joke to him, a lark. It was NOT SunDrop.

Nevertheless, it’s an experience all should have at some point in their lives.

Thanks Grandma!

Sorry!

I’ve been real lax lately on the blog and I apologize. I’m really struggling now to keep all my ducks in a row. Baseball has started in full force and we are ridiculously busy. I’ve been working a lot lately too. Combined, these factors may cost me my sanity.

Well, not really. But, they have effectively put a halt to the blog.

Sam is playing Pony league ball this year. Pony League is 13-15 year olds. Sam’s team consists of 13 13 yr olds…should be an interesting year for him.

Liam is basically on the same team he was on last year.

So, I don’t seem to know if I’m coming or going these days…

But, I still love you all!!!

My Newest Love

For Easter, the man who knows my heart best bought me a knife.

Yes, he really did. A knife. The knife of Kings.

The day I got it I sliced a carrot just for kicks and was mildly impressed. That carrot cut like warm butter. I put the knife away carefully, pleased, and didn’t give it a whole lot more thought.

Today, Jon is on his way home, driving to see us. The lights of his life. No accounting for taste, huh??

Anyhoo, just for him, I decided to make chicken and dumplings this evening. He hasn’t had from scratch home cookin’ in awhile, and I thought he’d like a warm meal. It’s good and cold here in Ohio ~ or BAD and cold depending on your perspective. My perspective is BAD. Just in case you were wondering.

So, I got out my new beauty and got started.

Onion first. Then carrots and celery. At the celery, I became MOST impressed. Not a single string left. Any knife that slices through celery without leaving a single strand uncut is a mac daddy knife.

Moving on, I decided, somewhat unnecessarily I confess, to cut up the chicken before I added it. Just because I was feeling kind of, umm, cuttin’ happy. And let me tell you something. I am IN LOVE!! My life is suddenly easier. I fear cutting nothing. Bring on the onions! And the raw bacon. My lazy chopper from Pampered Chef is officially being retired. Thank you honey. I LOVE my Easter gift!

Love you all!!

Jam Packed Easter Weekend

When Daddy only comes home once a month…the tendency is to keep him very busy while he’s with you…

And believe you me, that is exactly what we are doing. Yesterday, we…

Flew Planes

Went to the store. I totally tried to convince him we should buy a new grill…he wasn’t buyin’ it though.

Cleaned out some stuff that has been cluttering up the basement for FAR too long.

Grilled steaks…if you have never bought sirloin steaks at Costco, Please for the love of good food…do so!!!

Planted some flowers.

Played baseball. Or monkey in the middle, depending on your perspective.

Took some target practice…

I call this photo,

“Ok, Black Bart, Now you get yours.”

I know, scary, right??

Hunted Easter Eggs.

Had a water fight.

And played ball again. Everyone wanted a piece of his time, even Jet.

We totally crashed last night. So we could do it all over again today!

Scaled back a bit, cause I don’t think we could take another day like yesterday.

Today, I got a little time to myself while he took the kids to get ice cream at Corner Cones and to the park to play with Liam’s remote control boat at the pond at Highland Park.

Then, we colored eggs, well, Liam and Mags did.

Sam apparently is too old now.

Who knew??

We are working on homemade pizza’s now and then we are headed to the drive in to see Clash of the Titans. He’s going to sleep for days when he gets back to Charlotte!!

I love you all!!!