Wedding and an Anniversary

A friend of our family got married over the weekend, and Big Sis and Little Sis got to hold the honorary position of flower girl.

Though there were a few kinks along the way, they did such a great job!

Literally right before they were about to walk down the aisle, Big Sis stepped onto the tile floor and her feet flew out from underneath her and flowers went everywhere!

But she pulled it together, quick.

They came in so sweetly and meticulously dropping flowers from their baskets...all the way down the *side* aisle of the church!

Of all of the things we went over, I didn't think that they wouldn't know to go down the center. I grabbed Little Sis and called for Big Sis, ran them back to the back of the church, and sent them down the center aisle.

They were a little confused, so they walked like ladies to the front of the church, but forgot this time to throw out their petals.

They were wonderful for the whole ceremony.

And when it was time to proceed back out of the church, Big Sis went along behind the bride dropping flower petals, and Little Sis went along behind her picking them up and putting them into her basket!

:)

Their hearts were totally in the right place, and they tried very hard!!!

And really, the performance box is pretty forgiving when you're 20lbs of this much stinkin' cuteness!

The pink post-ceremony bubbles were a favorite for sure.

They had a good time playing out in front of the church while they waited to be called in for wedding party photos.

When it was time to head to the reception, the mother of the bride surprised them with two fuzzy pink and purple tiaras that she got as a gift for their participation.

This is J's daughter right here!

It's like somebody puts a nickel in her every time she sees a camera.

At the reception, the girls were in awe of the wedding cake!

I don't think they've ever seen one before.

We needed to get back home to Princess A and the boys, but they had both been as good as gold all day. And I didn't have the heart to leave without letting them taste a piece.

So while we were waiting for the cake to be cut, we ventured outside.

Because the very best thing to do in a white dress, white socks, and white dress shoes is...

...throw rocks of course!

When they had had their fill of rock throwing, they got to fill up on some much anticipated cake.

They definitely had a great day!

Thanks for choosing them "M!" They loved getting to be flower girls!

***

And while we're on the subject of getting hitched...

I thought it would be appropriate to mention that it has been exactly 7 years (August 9th, 2003) since J and I tied the knot!

I found this picture of us that our friend took while we were still dating.

We look like babies!

Fun fact: We dated for exactly 5 months and 1 day before we got married!

Happy Anniversary Honey!

I love you!!!

Thanks for hanging out with me, and all of these small humans!

:)

"...and in flew a FAMILY of Texas Harmonica Flies!"

Love is in the air in the land of the Texas Harmonica Fly! And here for you, I have captured images of this rare species, not once, but 7 times!!! For the original sighting of the THF, along with a brief bio of this boisterous insect, and the ability to not be completely confused by this post, be sure to read my husband's blog first. Enjoy!

Bzzzzzz

Tea Party Day!

J made a deal with the boys that once they were able to successfully memorize and recite the 10 Commandments, they would get to go on a special trip of their choice. Younger Brother's pick was one of the big amusement parks in our state. Biggest Brother would prefer something else, so we thought his vacation would be the perfect time to plan Younger Brother's special trip. J took the day off on Monday, and the two of them had a rip roaring fun day! (I'm hoping to talk J into posting pics on his blog so I can add a link to mine.)

Anyway, since all of the M family men folk were away, the girls and I decided to plan a special day of our own. They have known since last week that Monday was going to be "Tea Party Day," and they were sooooo excited. Big Sis woke up in the morning and came running out of her room shouting, "It's TEA PARTY DAY!!!" As though she herself were going on vacation! :)

Tea Party Day began with a trip out to feed the horses, and then it was time to bake some very special cupcakes!

Why don't you let me help you open that Sis.

Big Sis apparently takes her baking duties very seriously!

It wouldn't be a truly princessified tea party without pink cupcakes, with pink icing, in princess baking cups of course.

But it's so hard to wait for them to cool!

Big Sis decided to help them along a little with her nail drier.

Fact: Just about any item you can think of can come in a "Disney Princess" theme...but you'll pay for it!

These sprinkles were just too cute to pass up! Those are Sleeping Beauty's crowns, Snow White's apples, Cinderella's glass slippers, and beads.

Big Sis responded with an appropriately princess-like gasp when Little Sis took a forbidden pre-tea party taste of one of the cupcakes.

***

Once the cupcakes were ready and the table was set, it was time to get dressed for the occasion.

The girls were so excited, they went flying into Princess A's room to wake her up....about 35 minutes into her typically 2-3 hour nap (more on that in a minute.)

***

They each picked out a dress and the way they wanted to wear their hair.

Princess A was not left out of the fun, and they even picked an outfit for me too!

It's probably a very good thing that the lens I was using did not allow me to zoom out far enough to get a shot of myself!

My outfit included a purple fuzzy tiara, purple high heels, a clover green bridesmaid dress, rhinestone jewelry, and pig tails. Let your mind wander.

Princess A, on the other hand, looked dazzling in her first ever princess dress!

The girls were very excited to have her join the ranks!

See? I knew there was a legitimate reason to stock princess dresses in every size from a 12 month to a 4T! :)

Oh seriously, how cute is that?!

***

Let the tea party begin!!!

My hands were a bit too tied up to take pictures, but their very favorite part was the, "Here ye! Here ye!"

Followed by pretend trumpet fanfare, and the announcement that "Princess (fill in the blank) has arrived!"

Then they were each marched one at a time through the piano room, and into the royal banquet room (aka formal dining room), to a special grand entrance song hummed by me....which sounded an awful lot like the UGA fight song. :)
We probably repeated this step at least a half a dozen times, a piece.

Tea?

Chocolate Ovaltine actually.

Their request.

Remember that part about Princess A being jolted from a sound sleep less than halfway through her nap??

Yeah.

She was cleary not enjoying the party.

So she politely excused herself and retired to her quarters, where she slept another 2 and a half hours and woke up delightful!

Big Sis and Little Sis on the other hand, loved every minute of their cupcakes, oval"tea'"n, and girlish conversation!

After 3 or 4 rounds of cupcakes and tea, they were sufficiently sugared up, and ready for some dancing!

They love to dance to the demos on my clavinova!

This carried on for 30 minutes or so...

And then, at last, the castle fell silent.

*
The very first M daughter Tea Party Day was a royal success!!!

Pics From Afar

Thanks to the wonder of social media, my Aunt J has been keeping me up to date on Biggest Brother's adventures in Arkansas! I don't think he's missing me!

She promised to return him in one piece,

and hopefully that doesn't mean in a full body cast!

*

No fair! When do I get to go on vacation with Grandpa!?!