A Summary Of Our Week

We started off our Monday in a pretty boring way. It was my day for running all my errands - post office, grocery store, Costco, etc. The boys were less than thrilled, but I informed them that not every day can be spent lounging by the pool doing nothing. They were disappointed but rallied hard, especially after a trip to Trader Joe's where they received tons of stickers. Somehow Noah managed to snag my phone on the ride home and snapped about 40 pictures (at least) of the two of them entertaining themselves with the stickers. These are some of the gems I found in phone's camera roll.

On Tuesday morning I spent some time yelling gently encouraging Noah as he worked on getting started on his two wheeler. After 20 minutes of pure frustration from both of us, he finally got the hang of it and we rode our bikes to the play ground in our neighborhood. That evening my Mom and her new hubs (Bebe and Marv in case you're new here) joined us at Red's at Bohicket Marina for some outdoor dining. On Tuesday they have very kid friendly activities like a DJ, jump castle, balloon animals, and face painting. Even though it was scorching hot we enjoyed the view as we ate outside and the boys had a blast while we were there. They opted for face painting. Noah picked a dolphin.

Liam picked a pink cupcake (or "cakecup" as he calls them) and held out his arm when the lady asked where he wanted it. Afterwards he was pretty cranky and kept holding out his arm with a pissy look on his face. That's when I realized that he must have been hoping for a real cupcake, and that's why he held out his hand when she asked where he wanted it. Oops! Some dancing with Bebe helped him get over it though!

Wednesday morning the boys woke up very excited to go join some friends at Whirlin' Waters park in North Charleston. We had never been to that water park before and I must say it was a huge success. We went with our buddies Hannah and Connor which always makes things fun. The big kids loved the wave pool and the slides. And the little guys are always happy tagging along and enjoying whatever their siblings love. If my phone hadn't been locked up in our secure locker I would have snapped a bunch of pictures!

That evening we joined Hannah and Connor again at their house for some impromptu Olympic fun. Lisa had come up with a "Kiddie Olympics" for the kids complete with weight lifting and everything. So cute! I wish I had documented it, but for whatever reason the only picture I got that night was after the "Olympics" and dinner when the grown-ups played a round dominos.

Dominos and vodka soda. Priorities people!

Thursday was fairly uneventful. We spent the morning at the pool. That evening I went to yoga and apparently while I was gone Liam discovered corn muffins. Or "Corn Cakecups".

On Friday we stuck close to home for a low key day. They boys thought it would be fun to dump out every toy basket in the living room while I was taking a shower.

When I saw it I almost stroked out. Now, don't think I am one of those crazy, anal retentive people who can't let her kids be kids. It's just that I try to keep the toy explosions confined to the upstairs play room so that my downstairs stays fairly clean. (I really can't function when it's messy. I start to feel all panicky and my heart starts beating too fast. Seriously.) Anyway, I decided to turn lemons into lemonade and used the opportunity to clean out and organize all the toys in those bins. After I was done  it felt so good. I actually thanked Noah for making such a mess. (I am sure my kids think I am psycho.)

Finally, last night we all sat on the couch to catch opening ceremonies of the Olympics. I have been talking with Noah about it all week and he seemed very excited to watch. Wes played sneaky paparazzi and snapped this picture.

Not my greatest pic ever, but I think it is cute how enthralled the kids look. The opening ceremonies were a little over their heads but they really enjoyed the montage of athletes that NBC did at the beginning. You know what I mean. Clips of athletes competing set to emotional music with dramatic voice overs. The kind of thing that always makes me tear up a little when I watch.  Noah said, "Wow. I really like this music." And then Hannah said, "Yeah. It kind of makes you feel like crying." That made me so happy - they get it! They really do get the importance and emotion behind a big event like this. So cute.

Liam on the other hand? Well, he is two years old. Not sure he gets it. He did sit with the older ones but after a while he assumed this position and I couldn't stop laughing.

He may have been a little bored. Just sayin'.

And that was it. I made it through the whole opening ceremony and then it was bedtime. We had a fun week with great activities, but it had made me tired!

My Mom Gets Married

Last Friday my Mom and her fiance got married in an intimate outdoor ceremony. It was really lovely and we are all really happy for them!

That was the short story. Keep reading if you want the long story - complete with pictures.

So let's start with the clothes. My sister and I helped my Mom pick out her dress a couple of months ago. Once I saw what she picked, and had a better idea about what I should get, I went shopping and found a dress in my favorite color. (Noah's too!) Here is a picture of it on. Please excuse the look on my face - I hope I don't look quite that snooty all the time, but I'm afraid I might.

So, I let the beautiful color distract me from the fact that the dress was 100% silk. A serious disaster for several reasons, but the main one being that when I picked it up from the alterations place the morning of the wedding it was so beyond wrinkled I knew I could not wear it. I tried not to panic - after all, it was not my special day and I could always wear something else - and we attempted to take it to the cleaners to see if they could steam it. They could not. Then my sister literally said to me over the phone, "I mean, just put it in the dryer and fluff it up a little." After I counted to 10 and explained about what 100% silk meant Wes stepped in to save the day. He came home from work that afternoon with a brand new deluxe garment steamer. Seriously. And then he did this.

I love my husband. After 10 years he is getting pretty good at reading my moods and deciphering what I need. He knew that on that particular day I needed a steamer.

Anyway, on to the actual wedding. Mom and Marv got married in the garden of a little bed and breakfast in Summerville. It was a really perfect spot for their small ceremony that included just their daughters (my sister and I, and his two girls) and their daughters' significant others/families. The guests waited with Marv and the officiant - our friend Jeff who may need to leave his lucrative position as head honcho at the railroad in order to preform wedding ceremonies full time - under the gazebo while Noah and Liam walked Bebe down the "aisle".

Isn't that the sweetest picture?! The ceremony was very short but the words Jeff had written were really perfect. My favorite was the part where he said something to the effect of "learning to see imperfection as perfection". So true, and something that anybody who is married knows is necessary! After vows and rings the happy couple kissed, we cheered, and then all headed inside for a champagne toast.

The inside of the house was beautiful and Noah quietly asked Wes, "Is this Bebe and Marv's new house?!" Wes and I chuckled and then quickly realized that this nicely decorated place was not very kid friendly. The boys alternated between running down the hall and sitting like this in chairs.

They may have been a little bored. But despite that, they were very well behaved and I was so proud of them. They did manage to join in some picture taking with the rest of us.

Posing for a picture with Bebe and Marv. Lose the paci Liam!

Aunt J and her main squeeze, Brett.

Jeff fills out all the official paperwork.

All the girls. Lindsey, Jamie, Jessie and me. Do you like how were color coordinated. That was not planned but great minds must think alike :)

Getting ready to go for the bouquet. We were hoping for a good show....

But it landed straight into Jamie's hands. Darn! No cat fights!

My sis and I even snapped a normal picture - no silly faces allowed! (Also, can you spot the other problem with silk? Let's just say you can't wear it in the Charleston heat and be "Sure" at the same time!)

 After the ceremony Jeff took the kids home for us (props to Jeff and Lisa for being our babysitters) and headed downtown for dinner at Basil. The food was delicious and we really enjoyed celebrating Mom and Marv. Although, it was pretty funny that with the loud background noise and dim lighting neither of them could hear very well, and both had to be read the menu items by the people next to them. Ha! Sorry to call you guys out like that but I couldn't resist. It's all in good fun!

This is more what our pictures usually look like!

After a yummy meal, we sent the newlyweds off on their "honeymoon" and the rest of us called it a night.

And now, as of tomorrow, my Mom and all her belongings will be official residents of Charleston. Well, Summerville actually but you get my point. She gets to live near by in Charleston with Marv - just like she has wanted to do for so long. We are very happy for her!

A Mid Summer Report

I feel like all I ever do on the blog anymore is dump out the last 2 weeks worth of photos from my phone in order to get caught up on what we have done. So, here we go again. The following pics are from my phone and they include all last week - 4th of July and the following weekend.

We had a fun fourth, as usual!

 It is hotter than the 7th layer of hell here in Charleston so our standard activities involve either water or air conditioning. And I am not sure why I bother to shower or wear make up. It only takes 3 and half seconds to start sweating when you walk outside. In fact, the heat is so oppressive I have even started waking up early to run. (I know, that is so not like me!) It is just too dangerously hot to run anytime after 7am. However, I have actually been enjoying my early morning pavement pounding. It has provided some much needed moments of solitude and peace and just time to think. You know, before all the "Hey Mama I need...(fill in the blank)" demands starting dominating my day.

There is so much I feel like I could write about on here right now. I have a million things I would love to "talk" about. I am working on getting my thoughts together for some future blog posts that might have a little more depth than just, "Oh its hot and we are going to the pool." But for now, its off to the store and to do more cleaning. My Mom comes to town tonight. She is here to get married! On Friday she and her fiance will have a small ceremony with their children and their families. So the next few days will be filled with fun wedding activities and time with family.

Thank goodness I have my little helpers to assist me in getting the house ready.

Noah's glass cleaning skills leave a lot to be desired, but I love that he wants to help. And I love even more that he wants to do it wearing nothing but his Angry Birds underwear. I told you it was hot here!

Summer Snapshots

We love the sun, water, and time with friends and family. We do not love the heat - but we'll take it over winter any day! Happy summer everybody!!