Tag Archives: Family

Winning Isn’t Everything but…

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Justin and I took Monday afternoon off.  It was the first day of the girls spring break and we wanted to do something fun as a family.  While it is now officially Spring, it was cold and windy today, so we decided bowling would be the perfect indoor activity for the day.  The last time I was bowling was about 10 years ago and the time before that was five years prior to that.  We were impressed at how easy it was for the girls to bowl….bumpers were on every lane if you wanted them (we did) and they even had these cool ramp things that kids could use to bowl. Ms. Harper loved when it was her turn and often couldn’t wait until she found the swivel chairs behind our lane.

Avery had a great time and intently watched to see how many pins her bowling ball knocked down each time. She also loved to watch the ball come up each time.

Emerson getting a little coaching and encouragement from Daddy!  She was also quite the helper in making sure each person had the right ball before each turn.

Mama wasn’t so bad either.  Yes, the bumpers were there….but I only had a few rounds were my ball would have been a gutter ball.  In fact, my first frame, I had a spare!

We know winning isn’t everything BUT check out that final score!

Chocolate Ganache

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The weather today – absolutely amazing!  Seriously, here we are on February 28 with georgeous sunny skies and a tempeture of 65 degrees.  AMAZING!!!  We again decided to forgo the gym so as to get out of the house earlier.  Plus, I LOVE any family activity that also doubles as a workout.  We decided to head to Vienna for a picnic via our backyard.  Seriously, how cool is that.  I love that just beyond our backyard are woods that are so amazing and beautiful.  I love to just give it a panoramic gaze and take it all in!        

Our adventure took four hours door to door and included a nice walk through the woods to get to the bike path, a 2.5 mile trip on the bike path each way, playing on the Caboose, a picnic on the Vienna Green, a quick visit from Grandpa and Grandpa while we were picnicking, and a few minutes more of playtime at the Caboose under Grandma and Grandpa’s supervision so that Mommy could check out the chocolate shop on Church Street.  Chocolate ganache…..umm…YES!!!   I ate it right there in the store and was enjoying it so much that Justin asked me if I had wet my panties. There was a little whining on the way home, some from mommy wanting more chocolate ganache, but mostly from Harper who crashed the moment we got home. 
                                                     

Jumping in Puddles

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After realizing we didn’t have that busy of a weekend compared to some weekends, we decided to do something on our “spring/summer” list for today.  We woke up this morning and since I had a bad cold and Justin’s ankle had swelled up again after our walk yesterday, we decided to forgo the gym today so that we could get out of the house earlier in the day.  The forecast was calling for a mild day, but a rainy day.  Much of our list includes outdoor activities, and not feeling the indoor activities, we decided to do Old Town Alexandria anyway.  Quickly that turned into watching the planes take off out of National.  I packed some picnic food and for the first time ever the portable potty as with the rain, I didn’t have too many expectations and I decided it was better to be safe than sorry just incase we needed it.  (Turns out the girls used it for a total of five times…and thankfully just numero uno!)
 
Anyway, we headed to Gravelly Park, although I didn’t know that was the name until the area until we got in the car  and I put the address in my phone to navigate. We probably saw at least 10 – 15 planes take off in the time we were there.  Emerson had a great time and thought it was really cool to see the planes. 
I think she had even more fun trying to catch the seagulls with Justin.  
Avery and Harper on the other hand were terrified of the loud sounds of the plane and kept saying they wanted to go home.  While they both cried non-stop, Avery was okay to keep walking covering her ears (still crying) as long as we headed away from the planes.  Harper wouldn’t let me put her down and literally cried for probably 20 minutes straight…. real tears and snot galore.
 
We headed back to the car where we had our picnic inside the car and the girls took turns using the potty! As we were having our picnic, the girls got a kick out of watching the seagulls swarm around our car from some of the passerby’s that were feeding them. And Avery and Harper seemed to be a little more comfortable with hearing the planes from inside the car. 
 
After the picnic, we headed to Old Town.  The drizzle quickly turned into steady rain and the girls had fun using their umbrellas.  They looked super adorable and as always, a lot of heads turned with people thinking how cute they were.
The rain “forced” us to seek cover in an ice cream store where we had some yummy but expensive ice cream.  We then strolled slightly further to the waterfront in the rain and again took cover in the Torpedo Factory.
 
Despite the rain, it was a fun adventure with the kids and as much as I love warm sunny days, jumping in puddles make for some pretty awesome memories too.

It’s Not a Party Until Someone Poops on the Floor

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I write this December blog only after taking a break from being outside in (not kidding) 70 degree weather.  As I write this, Avery and Emerson are playing outside with all the neighbors dressed in a T-shirt and a summer dress.  Justin and I decided to skip the gym this morning in part to have extra time…..extra time to recover from last night’s party…extra time to clean up from the party…and extra time for making a gingerbread house.  It’s actually quite ironic that we decided we would go for a walk instead of the gym and enjoy the beautiful warm (actually border line hot) weather only after making a gingerbread house in our pajamas.  Should I mention that the girls were actually still in their pajamas when we went for a walk?

Anyway, tonight is the last night of Hanukkah.  The first night was last Sunday and we went to my parents.  My mom made latkes as she normally does, but instead of doing brisket, she got ready made Peruvian chickens.  It was delicious and while I ate too much, I felt so much better than I normally do afterwards when I eat too much brisket. The girls were spoiled by my parents as always and my mom insists of giving them a present every night.  While I know giving a present each night is the norm, I don’t think they need multiple presents each night.  Thus Justin and I give them pretty small things sometimes…(i.e. toothbrushes and toothpaste which they not only requested, but were ecstatic upon unwrapping the present and realizing what it was).

We lit the candles and said the prayer each night after at our home.  The girls definitely know it and sometimes can even say quite a bit of it without much prompting.  Other nights I end up saying it myself especially the nights the girls are also helping light the candles as their level of concentration on lighting the candles appears to take precedence over remembering the prayer.  

Ludmila spent the first night of Hanukkah with us at my parents and then was around for the lighting of the menorah at least several more nights during the week.   One night we brought out the camera. Here is Avery picking out her candles….choosing the right colors is part of the fun. It’s funny how as they take forever, I think to myself, just pick a darn color quickly.  But deep down I’m also recalling doing the same exact thing as a kid and knowing that I would still be selective in my color scheme today. Emerson placing her candles in her menorah.  As you can see, her menorah was one of the ones that fell and broke last year and Justin managed to glue it back together to somewhat salvage it.

Harper with her candles.

Emerson providing some supervision and words of wisdom for Harper.

Ludmila attempting to get the candles to stand up straight.

Avery with her menorah ready to go.

Emerson with her menorah ready to go.

Family picture time…

Cute Harper….has fangs just like her mama!

Blurry picture, but typical Harper face.  Also, I sort of love this picture of Emerson because she always wears her hair and the back and refuses to put it in front…so this look is a rare moment.

Mama and two of her kiddos.

Avery watching as mama lights the first candle.

Harper’s turn to light her menorah.

Last but not least, Eme’s turn.

The girls know Hanukkah means lighting the candles, eating gelt, dreidels, and opening presents.  That’s the gist of it, right?!?! 

The 7th night of Hanukkah coincided with my mom’s birthday…Dec 12.  This year was also the first year that my Grandma would be celebrating her birthday in Virginia (her 88th birthday). Her birthday is December 15th.  A few weeks ago, my cousin Jason who lives in California and who I haven’t seen in over 7 years said he was coming to the DC area.  And while I hadn’t seen him in seven years, my other Virginia cousins hadn’t seen him and 9 years and truth be told that was only their second, maybe third time meeting each other when they saw each other nine years ago!  So I decided I would host a birthday party for my mom and grandma…that way Jason and his new girlfriend Gina (that’s another story for another blog….but not my blog so I’ll refrain) could join us and see everyone at once! 

My mom suggested we order platters, but that’s not my style.  So while we did order two cakes, I did everything else myself….I stuck to an Italian theme….did one baked ziti, one pasta with pesto, peas, squash, prosciutto, and mozzarella.  Then I did a caesar salad with homemade croutons and a kale salad with toasted pine nuts, cranberries, and a lemon mustard vinaigrette.  I also did my famous “chicken balls”….meatballs but with ground chicken.  All was delicious and I definitely saw most everyone go back for seconds. Everything about the night was perfect….we are finally learning to host in our home…i.e. finding the best place to put the drinks, the trashcan, etc….all may seem little but placement is huge in a successful party!  

Both my mom and my grandma thoroughly enjoyed the celebration and were very appreciative of me having the party.  It was nice that they felt that way and recognized the hard work and appreciated the effort that Justin and I made for the celebration.  Grandma Adele laughed and cried while opening cards and gifts.

Mom opened a few cards and presents too, but certainly made the focus my grandma.

The girls had a good time and we had enough family members who they love, that I was able to concentrate on hosting the party and not have to worry about the girls as I did when they were little. Everyone ate in different areas….some the kitchen.

Some the living room.

And some the dining room.

I made people gather for several stage group shots. While this is the better of the following two pictures, my eyes were squinty in the first picture, thus the need to post the second!  This is all the blood cousins with Grandma.

Grandma with the cousins plus our significant others….plus Emerson who wanted to join the picture.

And group shot…everyone gathering….

Gathered…and cheese!

And one more since Brett and Jesse both decided to close their eyes at the same time…perhaps that is the reason they haven’t received their wedding pictures yet!

One of the most interesting points of the night occurred when Harper was without a diaper for a short time (my fault as I was changing her and agreed to give her a few minutes out when instead of fighting with her to put it on).  She has been without diapers for a short time for the same reason many of times before and only once has she peed….it’s a risk, but one that has proven to be not too risky with her.  Anyway, the night of the party she decided to poop on the floor!  She got upset after she did and yelled for my attention.  I couldn’t believe it!  Luckily nobody was really in the playroom with her at the time (where she did it).  As Justin said, “It’s not a party until someone poops on the floor”!  

The only “regret” of the night (other than not putting Harper’s diaper on right away) was that I didn’t get to engage in as much conversation with everyone as I would have liked….but that is pretty typical of any gathering I go to in which I know people. Otherwise, it was a great evening!

October Happenings

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Here is the truth…I hate when I am so busy that I don’t have time to blog right after an event.  Ultimately what ends up happening is that I still find it important to include the event in my blog, but it becomes more of a chore as each day passes and brings me further away from the event.  So I sit here on a Tuesday night (granted it will probably be the end of the week before I finish my blog) on my couch, laptop on my lap, under DJ (the name of our comforter that I have had since I was 10, which “happened” to be the same comforter that D.J. Tanner from Full House (who I wanted to be by the way) had) and I attempt to write my blog.  Justin is out of town and Avery and Emerson have come in my room at least six times in the past two hours since I put them to bed so I’ll be lucky if I finish this paragraph before I fall asleep on the couch.

So October….October 5 Justin and I woke up at 3:45 a.m. to make our 6:00 a.m. flight to TURKS and CAICOS!  We had wanted to go away just the two of us for our 5 year anniversary.  Well Harper came along and was 6 weeks old at the time of our 5 year anniversary.  We figured we would do something for our 6 year anniversary instead. That too didn’t happen as we had just moved and were trying to figure out our financial situation with our mortgage and expenses.  Naturally we figured we would do something for our 7 year anniversary instead and when spring came around this year, we actually started planning for it. I had seen pics of Turks and Caicos beaches the past few years and while I knew we wanted to go to the Caribbean for this trip, I thought Turks and Caicos was out of my league.   But once we started planning, we quickly realized that Turks and Caicos was the place for us.  I even bought a skimpy one piece, if there is such a thing.  I’ve reached a point in my life where my time for wearing two pieces is over….the last time I wore I two piece I rocked it…we were in Greece in 2010…I was 30 years old and not once did I think to myself that that would be the last time I would wear a two piece.  Since then I’ve been wearing mom bathing suits…yes, one’s with a little skirt portion at the bottom….cute but certainly a mom bathing suit. I feel great about my body now, with the exception of my stomach and my boobs, which I have a lot of excess skin:(.  Anyway, I didn’t want to wear a mom bathing suit to Turks and Caicos and while I did bring one bikini that I wore once in seclusion, I found a hot one piece that certainly wasn’t your ordinary one piece.  I figured I have many years ahead of me to continue wearing my mom bathing suit.

We spent 5 days/4 nights in pure luxury.  Our upgrade to a 1500 suite was more space than we knew what to do with especially considering we spent most our time outside.  The beaches were breathtaking.  The trip there was actually quite easy and we were at the hotel by 1:00.  Justin and I just looked at each other with the same thought, which was “why don’t we do this more often”?  Literally once we were there it just seemed so easy. 

We spent plenty of time at the beach…

We spent some time at the pool…..there were more kids at the resort that I would have liked and a few of them were being loud and I was trying to relax thus I wrapped the towel around my head (my legs were slightly burned thus the towel around my legs).  Justin thought I looked  like Aunt Jemima!

We went to the Local Fish Fry Thursday night via the beach!  I ate a lot of fish tacos and conch while there. 

We went out to eat three times for dinner…twice to the same restaurant which was just a short walk on the beach….once to a sister restaurant of the hotel where we were staying.

We did a snorkeling excursion and saw some of the most beautiful beach scenery that I have ever seen before.  It was breathtaking.

And of course we had fun just being silly and trying to re-create a picture that we took on our first real trip together to Mexico in 2007.

While I missed the kids, I was completely okay with being away from them.  I knew they were in good hands and it was nice to truly be able to relax, get some good sleep, connect with Justin, and not have to worry about work, making dinner or lunches, doing laundry, putting kids to bed, or doing laundry.

The week after we got back, we met with “Bridgette” who two weeks earlier had done a family portrait session of our family.  We had never done family pictures before and while it was pricy, I knew that this was something not only would I not regret, but something I wanted to do periodically to capture our awesome loving family through the years.  We ended up buying 20 digital images in addition to the two canvases we bought. We’ve slowly been blowing them up and putting them around the house…our house is truly becoming a home and I love it. Here are some of the images that we purchased (primarily the ones we haven’t put up around the house…yet)!

We had the photo session on our anniversary actually and it was really special….Justin and I have been together for almost 15 years, married for 7, and we have three beautiful little girls.  I feel so blessed and these pictures capture our love for life and one another.

In mid-October we took the girls to the Reston Pumpkin Patch, where they had fun jumping in the moon bounce, playing on the slide, going for a ride on the train, and doing funny poses for the camera.

The following weekend in October we went to visit GiGi, which I blogged about separately.

Then the last weekend in October was Halloween!  The girls changed their minds on what they wanted to be almost daily, if not more, for weeks leading up to Halloween.  I finally let it stop bothering me as I realized they were having fun with it and I realized that we had quite a few dress up clothes that I could work with to come up with a handful of last minute costume ideas. 

In the end, Avery was a witch…although she didn’t want to wear her hat, or use her broom.  Emerson was Belle from Beauty and the Beast.  And Harper was Anna from Frozen.  My sister and Gabo were visiting from London and they joined in the Halloween celebration.  By the way, they are ENGAGED!!

Halloween fell on a Saturday this year and since we had been so busy the week before, we hadn’t yet had a chance to carve our pumpkins.  My idea was to carve them Saturday with my sister and Gabo.  There was definitely more basketball and soccer playing occurring than there was pumpkin carving.

Justin carved all three of them though….mostly by himself….

Apparently Avery was less than impressed with his pumpkin carving skills….

She carried a pumpkin…

As Emerson played ball in the street with Lauren and Gabo…

Lauren was practicing her mad basketball skills….I must say I was impressed…I think she is a better dribbler at age 33 then she was at age 12!

The girls got dressed and we took a few pictures of everyone including Ludmilla before she went off to her bar crawl.

We failed to get individual pictures of the girls this year….truthfully I was way less stressed about us getting ready then last year so I don’t know if I really forgot as much as I was enjoying going with the flow and was okay not to try to get them to take individual pictures in which I knew they likely wouldn’t want to take.

The evening was fun….Gabo had never experienced Halloween before and we joked that this Halloween experience wasn’t the norm…he was truly experiencing a 5 star Halloween.  It started out with a “dinner” costume party at our neighbors, followed by trick or treating in the neighborhood, where multiple houses were handing out adult beverages, followed by a bonfire in the cul-de-sac.

Here is Joe Dirt himself.

Day after Halloween was November….hard to believe it is November already.  Justin and I went out to dinner Monday night with them to celebrate their engagement before they headed to NY and back to London.  Girls spent the night at my parents which they love!  Tuesday morning Justin left for Nashville and I been playing single parent in the eveningsL.  The weather has been gorgeous the past few days…sunny, 70 degrees, no wind….best fall weather a person could ask for.  I’ve worked from home the past two days so I was able to manage to take a 45 minute walk each day around lunch time and it was glorious.  Being outside in great weather always puts me in a good mood.  While I know the cold darker days are approaching, I’m hopeful that November brings more fall like weather than winter weather. And if winter weather is what November brings, I hope we take advantage by making lots of crock pot recipes and homemade chocolate chip cookies!

Love for My Little Humans

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Today I am in just one of those moods where I am truly in love with these little humans that I have the privilege of raising.  It is so amazing to be able to watch each of my daughter’s personalities blossom.  It’s the little things that have brought such joy to my face the past few days.  Sunday evening I took Harper to her first birthday party where her sisters were not there to accompany her.  We stopped off at Wegman’s on the way home where not only was she my little helper in the cart, but also we were engaged in conversation during the whole hour in a half we were shopping.  We got home at 8:30 and instead of falling asleep on the way home, she was wide awake as Justin and I put away the groceries.  She was full of energy running in circles around the main floor singing ABC’s and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  Today I worked from home and I decided to have Ludmila leave Harper at home this afternoon so she could nap while the older girls went to ballet.  I was going to put her down right away but for a moment, I realized that I say too often “I’m about to join a call” or “I have to get to my next meeting” and our discussion (she is now talking in full sentences) was so joyful….she was so precious….we sat in her chair and read five books while we rocked and read.  

Last night when I got home from work and wasn’t in the best mood, Avery and Emerson were each singing their own made up songs as the circled around the first floor as I cooked dinner.  My mood immediately changed as I was listening to and watching these awesome little humans.  

Don’t get me wrong…they often push my buttons…in fact, this is almost a daily occurrence but they bring me so much joy…I literally have so much love for them that I have to remind myself not to squeeze them so tight…I just like to get every last inch of love!

A Kid On A Carousel

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Saturday morning on our way to the gym, Avery and Emerson started talking about parks. A few different ones were discussed as well as the fact that we hadn’t visited a few of them in some time.  Anyway, Justin and I decided to fit going to Frying Pan Park into our day Sunday.  Here is Ms. Independent walking ahead of the gang.

And here is the slower of the gang.  Avery who decided to dress herself that this morning in a bathing suit, wanted us to be chickens.  So here we are saying “bok bok”.  

And yes that is Harper wearing a tutu.  Once we agreed to let Avery wear a bathing suit and a mismatched skirt, Harper too wanted her pick at her outfit.

Just Harper and me strolling along.  I’ve been bringing back the bun lately (sorry Justin)….but it’s a low side bun so that isn’t really a bun right?!?!?

While Avery took a little break in the stroller…..

And Emerson took in the sights of the goat…

Joined by Harper who wanted to do exactly as Eme was doing….

Followed by a stop riding the stationary tractors…..

They were having fun until the boy in the green shirt came along.  He was actually very nice and asked the girls if he could join them.  I said yes and he was trying to teach them about the tractor parts and then play a game with them.  Emerson and Harper wanted nothing to do with him as can be evidenced by their facial expressions.  I later tried to tell Emerson that he was just a nice boy wanting to play….I think a stranger being so nice was a little bit uncomfortable for her. 

We then headed towards the carousel.  As many times as we have been to Frying Pan Park previously, we have never ridden the carousel.  It only runs a few times an hour at most and today was the first time the timing worked out well.  The girls ALL had a blast as we rode it.  They were giggling and smiling and it was contagious.  

As we were riding it, I felt carefree and just loved the fact that at this moment in time, my girls were loving life and had no other cares in the world.  To be a kid on a carousel….that’s how we should all live life.

The girls then played on the playground for a little while. 

Ms. Independent who didn’t eat that much of her picnic lunch got hungry while she was playing on the playground and decided to go help herself to the remaining crackers in the stroller bag. Apparently she was eating and meditating at the same time. 

To be a kid on a carousel….

A Great Day in Annapolis

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Today Justin and I took the girls to Annapolis.  Justin had never been and to my recollection I had been once or twice as a kid, but hadn’t been in well over 20 years.  We could not have asked for a more beautiful September day.  We walked around, ate lunch (at an okay restaurant with crappy service but in a way met expectations as we waited to eat until close to 2:00 to eat and by then the girls were starving and we didn’t have much time to scope places out), and then walked around some more.  The sun was strong…in fact, pretty darn hot at times, but it truly was a wonderful day.  In fact, it’s been a wonderful weekend so far.  The girls are getting older and everything is becoming that much easier to do with three.  For example, last night we took them to Passion Fish at Reston Town Center.  Many people go there for a nice romantic dinner and I was that lady who brought her three young kids!  They were very well behaved though.  I just feel kind of high on life right now.  Perhaps it could be too because the last two nights I have watched two tear jerker movies (and I barely watch TV) and it just opened up my emotions in a way that I am feeling so blessed and so happy with my family and life right now.  Anyway, I had originally envisioned taking lots of pictures of the girls in Annapolis but it was way busier than I envisioned and since we were enjoying ourselves and getting pictures of the girls can be look pulling teeth sometimes and Justin still wasn’t back to his normal self from his pneumonia recovery, after he took out the camera the one time, I didn’t pester him to take it out again. Anyway, it was a really great day.

Williamsburg Wedding Weekend

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This past weekend we went to Williamsburg for my cousin Brett’s wedding.  Brett and Jesse both met at William and Mary, just like Justin and me, so they decided to get married at Wren Chapel and have the ceremony at the Alumni house.
Since Justin and I rarely go to Williamsburg and the girls had never been, we decided to make a long weekend  out of it so that we could truly enjoy our time there.  We left Thursday right after lunch with the hope that the girls would fall asleep on the car ride down there.  Avery and Harper fell asleep for a good chunk of the trip.  Emerson was up but was patient and quiet, even when she was mouthing the lyrics to frozen quite dramatically.
Thursday night we rode around campus and saw all the highlights of our old stomping grounds.  They definitely have built a lot of new buildings since we graduated!  That night we went to a Mexican Restaurant that was built since we graduated.  We went basically for the signature “white sauce” that is served in Mexican restaurants down “south”.  It was okay….service was so-so and the white sauce was good but not great.  Portions were huge and we definitely had some leftovers.  Anyway, the girls were tired by the time we left as it was already after 8:00 but we talked them into going to Duke of Glouster (DOG) street for a late night walk in the strollers.  It was dark out but it gave Justin and I some much needed exercise to feel better about ourselves after our massive Mexican dinner. It also gave the girls something to look forward to see during the day.
Friday morning our first stop was to William and Mary Campus.  We spent some time at the Wren Chapel….
The Sunken Gardens….
Bryan Hall…
The Crimdell…..
We then went back to DOG Street where we ran into much of the Petchenick clan at the William and Mary Bookstore.  The girls each picked out their own William and Mary BPA Free water bottle.  We did some exploring.  We checked out the horses….
Visited an old time jail….
And had a picnic lunch from The Cheese Shop!
The store was ridiculously packed but lunch did not disappoint.
We attempted an afternoon nap which didn’t work out so well so we took a quick dip in the indoor pool hot tub before getting ready for the rehearsal dinner at Sal’s.  At least Harper caught a few z’s during our morning outing.
Saturday morning we took a quick trip to the outlets as Justin didn’t bring enough shirts and I was potentially looking for a pair of heels that went with my dress options better than the one’s in which I brought.  I have always hated outlet shopping and this trip proved that I still do!
Saturday was the wedding.  Emerson loving on Harper while waiting for Mommy and Daddy to get ready.
Here we are on our way to Wren…way early may I add…thus we had time for some pictures!
Family picture (minus Harper) taken by my dad…not a bad picture besides the angle…just tilt your head a little.
The ceremony was literally the shortest ceremony I have ever attended…literally it was probably seven minutes from beginning to end…no joke…I’m not complaining though.
We had an hour after the ceremony ended until the cocktail hour started so we ventured to Paul’s Deli for a drink for old time’s sake…..slowly taking a few more pictures along the way.  
The girls happily ate their snack from Wawa and had a fun time coloring!
At cocktail hour, my dress seriously malfunctioned!  Good thing I was indecisive and brought a second dress and my husband so graciously drove back to the hotel during cocktail hour to get me my other dress.
The wedding was lots of fun.  Food was great and the girls especially had a great time dancing and hanging out with cousins Christine, Katy, and Jessie.
After the wedding, we went back to the hotel, got the girls in their pajamas and dropped the girls off in my parents room so that Justin and I could head to the deli’s for a little.  We were planning on picking them back up but they were all sound asleep in the same bed when we got back to the hotel around midnight that my mom didn’t want us to wake them.  Anyway, we went to a new deli “The Brick Tavern” first because that is where the wedding party was.  After staying there for a little, we went back to Paul’s for old time sake and so Justin could have himself a Hot Holly.  The Hot Holly didn’t disappoint although he did have to share it with the bride and groom and the little speck of mold on the bread didn’t deter either!  Justin said he felt nostaligic a few times during the weekend. I had a great weekend and it was certainly good to be back and to show our girls where we met, but I can’t say that I had that sadness feeling associated with nostalgia.  In a way, it felt like just yesterday that we were there and in other aspects, it felt like it had been the 15 years that it has been!  Either way, it was a great weekend!

Just The Seven Of Us

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As Justin and I ate dinner last weekend, I looked over at him and said, “when did this happen.”  At the kitchen table was not only me and him, but also our three little girls and our two “teenagers” a.ka. our au pairs who take care of our three girls while Justin and I work.  We truly consider them family.  I said to him, “seriously, just four years ago it was him and me (okay so I did have two babies in my belly and I was nearing bed rest so I probably wasn’t doing the cooking but we were still eating dinner together at our dining room table just the “two” of us).  And here we were now just four years later and we are a family of seven.”   Even though we are in transition and have an overlap in au pairs and will only have one living with us soon, we are an extended family of 7!  I never envisioned myself as having a big family, but I think it looks good on us:)