My brother's wedding...

My brother got married on June 13, 2009. It was a beautiful wedding, and the weather was PERFECT for a wedding. I loved being there to support my brother and partake in the celebration of their vows to each other. Caleb was asked to be the ring bearer. He was so excited to be in their wedding and to bear the rings. He was extra excited to go down the aisle with his cousins (Atira and Emma) who were the flower girls. Here is a picture of their rehearsal.
The chaplain was the lady in the black pants and black/white top standing in front. I have never been to a wedding where the one officiating was a female. She did an excellent job with the marriage, and she had such great things to share with Russ and Melissa. She was a mentor of Melissa's from way back, and she is also a great friend of their family's. Melissa (my new sis-in-law) has been "in the picture" for a long time before my brother caught her. Melissa was a friend of my sister's back when my sister was in High School....so like, over 10 years ago. So, I have known Melissa a long time. It was fun to welcome her into our family permanently.
Here is a few more pictures that I snapped at the rehearsal dinner. They had the dinner at Russell's house. I personally think it was too much on his plate to host the dinner at his house when he was getting married the next day. I could tell he was stressed, and I felt bad for him.
Anyway, here is Caleb and Madelyn with some of their cousins.
Here are "the boys" grilling the meat. Terry (far left), and two of my brothers in the middle and far right.
Here is a picture of the Moms! My mom is on the right side.
Here is a picture of the Dad's. My Dad is on the left side.
Here is Emma and Atira (my nieces) throwing the petals for the Bride. Caleb wasn't able to join them due to his fears. He was a bit nervous to be showcased.
"Here comes the Bride!" She was radiant ~ even when she was crying. Poor Melissa had such an emotional day. She made it, though. :)
My brother has such a great look on his face as he looks at her. He looked great up there, and it seemed as though he was just so giddy! I loved watching him.
Saying their vows.
At least the pictures for the wedding memory book have Caleb in them. Even though he didn't get to walk down the aisle, he still got some great photos of himself in a tux! What a handsome guy!
Here is Miss Madelyn. She loved her pretty pink dress that she wore. While the photos were going on, I did our nails (toe and fingers). She thought that was so fun, and loved to show people her nails.

By the way, I am sad that I didn't get a family photo at all during the day.
My parents look great! I love that they had such a fun day! They are currently in their 51st year of marriage! What an inspiration!
Here is Caleb showing us his muscles. This is his big thing right now. He likes you to comment about how strong he is, and how he is growing.

Here is a picture of 4 of my beautiful nieces. The two in lavender are my brother's daughters (the one that got married). It was fun to see them supporting their Dad and standing up for him and their new mom-in-law.
Here is Nathaniel and my other niece, Adrianna. They had such a blast hanging out together. They are only a year apart in age.

Madelyn loved the frosting on the cake. She was loving the taste. My cousin was cheering her on and getting some good laughs.

It was a great day! The wedding ceremony was beautiful. It started off with a slide show of Russ and Melissa as children, teens, dating each other, and now onto marriage. There were pictures of Russell's daughters in there. I was crying even before the wedding.

My mom's quartet sang for the ceremony, as well as my brother sang. They all did a wonderful job! My mom's quartet also sang for the reception. It is always fun to hear those gals sing! The reception was at a ski and tube place about 20 minutes from the church. The catered meal was delicious, and it was a fun reception....until Caleb got sick and our evening was cut short. Caleb must have had too much sweets and too much running around. He was very tired, too, because he slept the whole way home. He didn't have a "bug" though, because he was fine the next day.

I am so happy for my brother and new sister. It was such a fun day! God bless their marriage!

Thanksgiving

It was a great Thanksgiving. We left on Wednesday night, around 6:30, to go to Terry's Mom and Grandma's house. We had to take our truck because we had a load of things to bring up to store at Terry's brother's house. It was a tight fit with 3 kids in the back seat, Lena (our dog) on the floor~ among a few bags and backpacks, and Terry and I in front. We made it work, though. We stopped for supper at one of our favorite Mexican Restaurants. It was good food, and while we ate we had good entertainment from a magician on the TV. He was pretty amazing to watch! I always wonder how they do those tricks! Madelyn liked watching these 3 guys at the table next to us. They tried to make her smile and wave, but I think she was playing shy. Caleb noticed a table with a man and woman sitting at it. He saw that they were speaking in sign language to each other. He was fascinated with them. I told him that is another great reason why we should learn signing, so we can communicate with them, too.
We made it to Terry's family about 10 PM. It was great to get there and visit for a bit with Terry's Mom and Grandma. His Grandma just got out of extended hospital stays. Her health hasn't been that great, and she has gone through 3 surgeries in 4 months. She is healing from a terrible fall, so she looks a bit beat up. I am glad she can be home now, and do her healing in the comfort of her own home.
The kids got to bed past their bedtime, but it was the holidays. Madelyn had never really done well sleeping away from home, and Wednesday night was a rough one for her! She woke up screaming, we pulled her into bed with us, and she crawled all over me crying. After fighting with her for about 20 minutes, my MIL came to get her. She did get her to sleep sitting in the chair, and put her back in the pack-n-play. It didn't seem long after that when Madelyn woke up again. I was so tired...not being in my own bed, being preggo and uncomfortable, and dealing with a non-sleeping daughter....all combined to cause lack of sleep. Fortunately, when my MIL went to work on the turkey, Madelyn and Caleb went upstairs with her, and I went back to bed (on my MIL water bed). So, I did get a few more Zzzz's. My parents came around noon with my niece. It was great to see them, too. Terry's uncle, girlfriend, and each of their boys came for lunch, too. It was a good crowd. My MIL did a super job with the meal, too. It was nice to have a new celebration arrangement this year! For the last 4 years, I hosted a Thanksgiving meal at our house for whomever could make it~ plus a potluck. I really didn't feel up to hosting this year~ being 8 months pregnant. I did bring the turkey, and make the green bean casserole, but I feel like I should have helped more. Thank you to my MIL for being so wonderful and hosting Thanksgiving this year! It was so great to be with you and my parents this year!
We came home on Friday afternoon. We stopped by my parent's house because Nathaniel went home with them on Thursday night to spend the night. Him and my niece wanted to have more time together. We got home about 4, and I was heading out at 5:30 to meet my friends from High School (whom I haven't seen since August). It was so wonderful to go see them and reconnect. Talk time with them~ minus the distraction of children~ was wonderful! The time went way too fast, as always, but I will take it! I am really looking forward to when we get together next!

Weekend plans

Today I was home with the kids. I usually babysit on Fridays, but it was an exception today. I brought Nathaniel to school this morning, because he was going on a field trip to the MN Science Museum! I was hoping to be picked as one of the chaperone's, but unfortunately my name wasn't one of the lucky draws. Hopefully I will make the next field trip. I really like going on those, because I can get to know his teacher and classmates better. That way, when he mentions someone from his class, I know who he is talking about. I wish that I was able to volunteer once a week, but that would require getting a sitter...not really realistic.
I did some straightening up around the house today and did dishes. I will have extra company all weekend, so I have decided NOT to clean until Monday when my house isn't full of people. I really don't feel like cleaning it twice. Today, my father-in-law sliced wood for us, and that was greatly appreciated. It is a big job out there with the slicing and stacking. Our pile is huge and winter is coming...so, it is a must to get that done. We are hearing of possible snow on Sunday already. I am looking forward to the snow and winter. I am not a huge fan of the ice and freezing below wind chills, though. Tonight, Terry's mom and sister will be showing up for the weekend. It will be great to see them again! Tomorrow, Nathaniel will have a few friends over in the afternoon for his birthday party. That will be about 4-5 extra boys. I think Terry is going to be getting the boat and pontoon out of the lake, and finish winterizing the outdoors. We have a faucet that needs fixing before snow flies, too. In the evening, my parents will come over for dinner. We will be having a Grandparent supper celebration for Nathaniel...and to have a get together for them to visit. Like I had mentioned before, Terry's Dad is here from Alaska...and we haven't seen him in over 4 years. My parents have just met him on our wedding, so it will be good for them all to get to know each other.
Sunday, we will be heading down to bring Terry's Dad back to the airport, and then I believe we will just relax the rest of the day. A Day of Rest. I think we will need a day of rest after the busy weekend. I will try to post some this weekend, but if I don't~ you know why. :) Have a super weekend everyone!

Off to Grandma's house

Thursday night the kids went to Grandma's house for the weekend. This will be the longest Madelyn is away from me. She is completely done nursing, so I know she will be fine. It will be nice to have a break, but I miss them, and I look forward to their return.

We met half way to drop the kids off. We met at McDonald's and had some ice cream. Madelyn did her first sentence in signing...More Ice Cream, please. It was great! She is learning signing like you wouldn't believe. I am so happy that I have discovered sign language for the kids, and they are learning it. It is a great second language.

After we dropped the kids off, we went to visit my parents. It was a nice visit, and my Dad recruited Terry to help him bring a few items to the dumpster yard. While they were gone, my Mom and I looked for an old record I wanted to have. It was one that my sister and I listened to all the time. I remember we used to switch the speed of the record player to 45 and hear the singer change from a normal voice to a chipmunk. It was just hilarious!! I miss those days sometimes. I also borrowed a book from my Mom that was my great aunt's. It is a book about the Sunbonnet babies. I adore the book, and it was one that my great aunt used to read to us all the time. It has special meaning to me. I look forward to reading it to the kids. My Mom wasn't excited about loaning it to me, but I told her that it is just collecting dust on her shelf, so she should just let me borrow it. I told her I would protect it with my life.

We headed back home, and decided that we were going to go sing a few songs karaoke, since we were kid-free. Terry had to work early (get up at 4:30) a.m., and I had to work after an early Dr. appt., but we still wanted to go. It was a good time, and we each sang 2 songs. Terry and I love singing karaoke. It was a good night, even though we shorted ourselves on sleep.

Mongo's grill

Saturday night my siblings and I, (minus my sister that lives in Chicago) went out to eat at Mongo's to celebrate my parent's 50th Anniversary. We are planning on having a party for them this summer including their siblings and their wedding party, but we wanted to have a night out with them to celebrate. My brother, Kevin, called our house on Saturday morning. <<<<Here is a little history: Our family is classic for last minute planning. I called him back in December or January trying to make plans for my parent's Anniversary, but I didn't get a return call until beginning of March. My parent's Anniversary is in March...Oh well. I am going to get on the ball for getting this party planned for this summer.>>>>>
So, at 5:15 we dropped off the kid's with my niece (12 yrs. almost 13) and nephew (15 yrs.) for them to watch them. Bless them for watching 8 kiddos...my other niece who is almost 18 did come for awhile to help, too. It was a fun outing, and my parents were so happy to have us all together. My sister, Annikki, was even there. It is a long story, but I am really surprised she came. There is some family turmoil (basically she wants nothing to do with my brother David and his wife)...and she has been isolating herself from the family. I was glad to see her there. I haven't seen her since the 4th of July.
Mongo's is a fun and entertaining restaurant. You grab a bowl, fill it up with veggies, raw meats, raw sea food, cheeses, sauces, oils, seasonings, and noodles. Then, the grill people toss it on a big grill and saute' your food while you watch. You can have your stir fry in a wrap, eat it by itself, or have them saute rice in it. You can also chose your rice to have on the side. It was so tasty! I loved it! I really, REALLY...love stir fry anyway, so it was a welcoming treat. This night it was an all-you-can-eat meal for one price, so if you didn't really like what you put together, you could try something new. I highly recommend this restaurant if you have one near you....GO! You won't be disappointed. It was a fun night out. I love getting together with my brothers and sisters. I wish my sister in Chicago could have been there.

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary~

Today is the day my parents got hitched 50 years ago! That is a long time...50 Years! I want to make this a post to celebrate them, as parents, and as a couple! This is the only picture I have in my computer of them~ this was just after Madelyn was born....I want to say, Thanks Mom & Dad, for being together and sharing your love with everyone that knows you! Congratulations on celebrating 50 years! 50 more to go...We love you!

13 Things to look forward to~

1. January is almost over: which means, the longest month of winter is almost over. This means super, butt-nipping cold is almost gone.
2. The days are starting to get longer: which means, the daylight hours will be longer=happier people.
3. My babysitting/nanny job is going to be starting into full swing by next week. This will mean my life will get a lot more busy, but I think all in all this will be so good in so many ways.
4. Nathaniel does NOT have school on Friday: which means some great time with my oldest son! I like when he doesn't have to go to school. (I miss having him home during the days).
5. We are going to my husband's side of the family for a Christmas (belated) gathering. It has been awhile since we have been up to Grandma's and I know it will be fun for visiting. Terry's brother's family moved up there recently, so we will get to see their new home, too. Grandma's house is remodeled, too, so it will be fun to see the (much needed) update.
6. I have some super products coming my way to review, and I think you all are in for some treats...HINT, HINT....yes, that means some SUPER contests will be coming your way very soon!
7. I am planning a girl's night sleep-over to happen in February. I loved hosting it last year, and I am SO looking forward to a night with my special girly friends...for laughing, munching, giggling (yes, laughing and giggling are different)...yakking, and maybe sleeping. OK, I know I can't handle staying up all night anymore, so I will be sleeping.
8. Madelyn is starting to say more things, and I am really looking forward to when she is talking. I love this stage she is in, and it just amazes me how much they really know.
9. Speaking of Maddie, she has her first birthday coming up in a month and a half! WOW! I can't believe she was born almost a year ago! Time goes so quickly!
10. In March, my parent's will celebrate 50 years of marriage! That is so wonderful and inspiring! I am so happy for them! It truly is a blessing! Congratulations to my parents!
11. LADIES NIGHT OUT in February. This is such a great night with my girlfriends at our home church. Game night, laughing, yakking, giggling to the point of: (1) tears, (2) rolling on the floor, (3) walking funny all the way to the bathroom before an accident, or (4) spitting a beverage out of your mouth. It is so much fun, and I hope we all can make it!
12. SNOW MELTING!! Need I say more?
13. Spring! Ditto...need I say more?

Weekend happenings and a few thoughts

Madelyn has been sick this weekend. Her moods have been pretty good, considering, but she is a little sick kiddo. Her breathing and coughing got really bad late last night. Her coughing really scared me. She did end up throwing up from it. Terry is an EMT so he has a stethoscope, and he listened to her lungs. He said they don't sound like there is liquid in there, but that it is more in her upper chest/throat area. I think we will just keep an eye on her today to see how things go.

My mom just got out of the hospital (Saturday). She had surgery and it will take awhile to recover. Terry, Maddie and I went over there last night to visit. I brought them a meal, and Terry was going to help Dad with burning brush. (Terry is also a firefighter) I didn't know that 2 of my brothers were going to come, 2 of my nieces, one of my nephews, and my brother's girlfriend. I only made one pan of Tator Tot hotdish, so I was a bit concerned about it feeding everyone. It did feed enough, so all is well. I think the guys had fun burning the brush. The wind was a bit strong, though, so it was a bit risky. It was great to see my family.

Today, I think Terry and I will stay home with Maddie. Her cough is terrible, and I really don't want to bring her to church to spread the love around. Tonight, we will pick up Nathaniel. He was visiting his dad for the weekend. He doesn't know we got the Wii, yet, so he will be really excited about that! I didn't want to tell him on Friday (when it came) because he wouldn't have been able to play it.

I really miss the boys, and I will be happy when they get home. Terry will be picking up Caleb tomorrow night. He is with Grandma right now. I bet he is having a great time.

I really didn't get much done on my Thursday's Thirteen, but I will still make progress on that list. I need to get it all done this week. I will be starting a job next week. I get to "nanny" a little girl who is 5 days older than Madelyn. I will drive to their home daily. The hours will be 5-6 hours a day. I think it will be a good thing. I will make extra income, and still be an at home mom (just not my home). I love children, so it will be fun to play with the kids. I am looking forward to this opportunity.