Sunday, October 28, 2012

Wedding Bells

But not at our house.

One of Caitlyn's best friends got married yesterday and my dear one and I were invited to the wedding.

Caitlyn and Katherine met in kindergarten and have been friends ever since.

The wedding,  though it did not come off without a hitch, (no pun intended) was lovely.  I think every bride and groom encounter something that is out of their control but Katherine and Jeremy had two things to deal with before the wedding even started.

The hairdressing took much longer than expected because one of the stylists did not show up for work. Caitlyn was still in the chair getting her hair done at 12:45 and the wedding was at 1:00.  Ack.

Katherine remained calm until they arrived at the church, 15 minutes late, to find that the florist had not delivered her flowers.  Double ack!

Never the less, she smiled all the way up the aisle to meet her teary-eyed, beaming groom and the ceremony was lovely!


The reception was held at the Fairlane Club and was very nicely done.

The groom is a chemist and, as I learned last night, a groom's cake is a new tradition at some weddings.
Well, Jeremy's mom went all out.  She made enough bite sized cup cakes to make the entire periodic table. Using color coded fondant she labeled each cupcake with an element's name and mass number.  Pretty sweet.

After the bridal dance, I got a peek at Katherine's blue high tops.  Nice!


My dear one and I danced a few dances and caught up with some old friends that we have not seen in a while. It was a nice evening out and there will likely be a few more like it in our future.  

Trunk or Treat

My dear one and I took the two youngest girlies to their school for our first ever Trunk or Treat.  Although I have seen signs for them in the past, I never thought to go to one until this year.

It was pretty fun.

When the older kids were little, I would stay at home and pass out candy and dad would take the ones old enough to walk a block or two without losing their mind, out to get candy.

As they grew too old to go get candy, they passed out our goodies and still, my dear one would take out the trick or treaters.

This year, I got to go too.  No more little ones to sit home with and no need to pass out candy because it's not yet Halloween.

The parking lots were full of SUVs and mini vans with bundled, costumed candy givers.  It was a really short walk from vehicle to vehicle and even though it was a bit cold, it was nothing like having to walk for blocks to get a bucketful.

There was a hearse decked out as an ambulance and the "nurse" was handing out candy from a bedpan (a real metal one from the good old days).  Cider, hot chocolate and donuts were available and everyone was really friendly and having a good time.


With all the time spent on the girls getting them ready, we had one zombie and one princess, you would have thought it was the real deal.  And, it might just well be since I've heard the weather is supposed to be pretty bad Wednesday.










The girls still want to dress up to show their friends on the block their costumes but they may be done getting candy.  That should be okay as they brought home quite a haul tonight.  I'm looking forward to Trunk or Treat next year.


Friday, October 26, 2012

Just a little brag.

Can I just say, my dear one and I have great kids!!

Over the past week I have had many opportunities to watch our kids in action with other kids, and with adults.

Let's start with the youngest.  We were standing in line at the spirit store after school one day, waiting to buy a smencil (otherwise known as a smelly pencil).  The two children in front of us were both with grandparents, and unfortunately these adults did not receive the respect they deserved nor did they correct the kids when they were treated disrespectfully. I heard no pleases or thank yous during the purchases.

Then up walks our princess (dad's nickname for her).  She politely and with a please, asked for her pencil, and thanked the mom working the store not once, but twice;  once for the pencil and once for her change.

Next we went to 7-Eleven for our end of the month Slurpee.  Number two son escorted the two younger girls into the store and held the door for a gentleman with a noticeable limp who came up behind him. He was aware enough to look back before letting the door close.  :-)

Amanda, while going for a run, decided to stop in and see her grandparents.  She spent the better part of an hour and half just chit chatting and sharing stories.  I'm sure my parents were thrilled!

Last night we went to parent-teacher conferences. Our 11 year old's math teacher made sure that we knew that our sweet daughter often stays after the last bell to help put the chairs on the desks of the students who forget to put theirs up when they leave the classroom.

It is wonderful affirmation to see that our words and expectations are being heard and taken seriously.  Not that we or they are perfect but it is fun to brag just a little.



Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Tonight

As I sit here typing, there are two different computers playing two different kinds of music, both loudly enough to keep the youngest awake, but apparently not loud enough to wake her up.  One good thing about being the youngest in a noisy household; you can sleep through anything.

Erin is baking again. More pumpkin bread for the co-workers and M & M cookies for us.  Yea.

The car shuffle has already happened, much to the dismay of the person waiting in the street to pass by as three cars made their way up the driveway.

This evening was day 6 of our 6th child driver's ed class.  Even though this is our 6th driver, I've already warned my dear one that he will have to do a lot of driving practices because, the older I get, the more jumpy I get in the car, unless of course, I'm driving.

The homework was done by 7 p.m. Whew.  She's getting better every day.  Either that or it's just a lighter load this week since the 1st quarter just ended and there is no rush to get grades turned in.  School tomorrow and then a 4 day weekend for the youngest two kids.  A much needed break for mom, too.

I have my third book for the week waiting on the arm of the chair for me to get to it.  Not that I've read two whole books this week, just finished two that I had previously started.  (I very rarely have only one book going at a time.) This one is called, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate.  So far it's pretty good.

So, to the aroma of fresh baked cookies, I'm going to go curl up with a good book (and since I've been up since 5:30 a.m., probably fall asleep!)








Tuesday, October 16, 2012

More Books!

Remember my earlier post about books?  Well, I did it again.  I just bought three more books.  :-)

Of the previous three that I purchased, I loaned out two and read one.  The one I read was A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay.  I have to say that after reading her book Sarah's Key and loving it (it was a very riveting story) this one was a let down.  There was a lot of filler and too many plots going on, only one of which was resolved at the end.





The new books are: The Gift of Faith by Rev. Tadeusz Dajczer, which I am reading in conjunction with The Year of Faith that the Church began celebrating on Wednesday (see my post at centeredinchrist1.blogspot.com),  Clara's War; One Girl's Story of Survival by Clare Kramer, which just happened to pop up when I went to Amazon to buy the first book, (we love holocaust surviver books around here), and Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry.




The last book was in my shopping cart just waiting for me to buy over $25 worth of books so I could get free shipping.  It is one of four books in a series that starts with The Giver,  which, if you haven't read, I highly recommend.





In fact, if you decide to read it I wouldn't mind some commentary.  We have a split decision in our home about the ending and I'd like to hear what you think about the outcome.

The other two books in the series are available at the library so I am just borrowing them. This requires a shorter storage time and more pressure to read them in a timely fashion.

I think I'd better get the two that I loaned out, back and get started on them.  It's probably a good thing that colder days and darker nights are coming.  More reading time for me.  I just hope it's not after midnight when I get to them.

Monday, October 15, 2012

1:52 a.m.

Here I sit writing and waiting for our youngest son to finish his homework.  Yawn.  I did get some sleep already tonight which is probably why I'm even functioning.

The dishes are done,  most of the house is picked up (sort of). and the floors are swept.  I have a line of pumpkins, some carved and some not, sitting on the living room floor.  The skeleton, that earlier graced the front door, lies limply on the couch awaiting a fresh tape up job.  Oh, I just found the tape.  It's under the living room table.  Missed that when I swept.

Gracing other horizontal surfaces are a computer charger, a shoebox now "piggy bank", a bottle of glue and a stuffed animal sitting on top of the CD player. The requisite pair of shoes awaits the morning rush.  They are where they are because it makes the morning easier for the person to whom they belong.

This is life in a houseful of active, busy people.

Life happens here and it's a beautiful thing.  Even more beautiful is that fact that sometimes I can look at the clutter (that often drives me crazy) and be grateful for it.  I am not alone.

I have been immensely blessed with a big, happy, peaceful (for the most part), loving family.  When the little things start to get to me, it feels good to stay up late and remember how blessed I really am.



Monday, October 8, 2012

Thanks A Million!

My parents needed a new lawn, desperately!  When the Jimmy Tree was removed to become Dearborn's Christmas tree a few years ago, the lawn where the tree used to be never grew to anything resembling nice.

My mom called a local nursery and got an outrageous estimate for new sod ($5000!)  and so, instead,  the in-law men and grandsons stepped up to the challenge.

My brother-in-law, Rob, took charge and everyone let him because he is so good at whatever he attempts.  He sprayed the lawn to kill it,  measured the lot, ordered the fill dirt and sod and replaced all the heads on the sprinklers so the hard work that was about to happen would not be in vain.

On a Thursday evening a couple of weeks ago he came with the sod cutter and loosened all the dead grass.  Friday evening my other brother-in-law, Roger, came and helped Rob and the grandsons, Alex, Michael, Joe, and Jake roll up and dump all the dead stuff.

Saturday morning, dark and early, Rob was back pulling the fill dirt in to level the area so the new lawn would look nice.



The guys, including another brother-in-law, Tom, and another grandson, Dan, got back to work Saturday morning and by 11:00 a.m. the new lawn was in and looking wonderful.  My parents were just in awe of them.

Just wanted to give a public THANKS to all these great guys for their hard work and for making my mom and dad very happy with their new lawn.