The Princess and the Prince

Addie was so excited to see Princess Meli and Prince Gavin!  Meli decided that it was probably safer for her and her Princess gown to get ready at Dad's.  

Its a good thing Mom is experienced with a Zipper, otherwise.....

Now that the Princess is ready the entourage is off to track down the groom! Now where could he be, I hope he didn't get cold feet, that could be awkward.

We all know how the bride gets ready, but do you know what it takes for a flower girl to be ready for her big debut.  First one must take a quick swim and practice practice practice.  They always say when your nervous imagine everyone in their underwear.  We like to shake things up bit, put a new spin on the saying. Practice naked so when the real thing happens you are ready for anything!

 As we waited and waited on the bride and groom to be ready, we swung away the time.  No complaints here it kept them out of the dirt, I bet they didn't think of that when they hung the swing  in a tree near the chapel!

While exploring the grounds around the chapel Addie made an amazing discovery.  She found the tooth fairy!  It is true the tooth fairy resides at Belle Gabel Chapel in Fayetteville, Arkansas!  Not only does this picture capture a beautiful family, but it document the finding of the the tooth fairy!

We all know that Addie can't keep a straight face to save her life!  The Photo Booth was perfect for her.  She found all the accessaries and got the party started!

It wouldn't be a wedding if there wasn't dancing!  Okay, it wouldn't have been Meli and Gavin's wedding if their wasn't dancing!  Who know Addie had so many moves, she definitely didn't get it from her Mom!

She even managed to steel a few dances with the groom, I think that she might have even taught him a few moves.

Man a wedding is exhausting even when your just a guest.  We tried to party with the best of them but come 9:30pm we were pooped.  Feet could no longer be contained in beautiful blue suede heels, Addie had danced all one could dance, Avery's legs were broken, and Dad could not keep Addie from trying to leave Mom behind.  "Come on Dad let just go" direct quote out of the mouth of my babe.  Geez kid, I'm afraid you are going to be waiting on your mother for many more years, 12 at least.

Pre-Wedding Fiesta

When your not the bride wedding festivities are lots of fun!  

 If the Sun is shinning then the kiddos are swimming!  When we were kids we swam till our lips turned blue and we couldn't feel our limbs and we turned out okay! 

As kids we played with our cousins all of the time.  Every summer we could get together and run amuck! And It was high time that we got together to teach our children the ways of their parents!

 

A Dance party on the furniture, proved that they passed with flying colors.  The 2nd generation of cousins  is defenitely ready to make trouble! 

 Why is it that it takes a wedding or a funeral to get a family together?  Either way someone is always left out of all the fun.  Growing up it seemed as if we got together more often, now it practically takes an act of Congress to get us all together.

Since I am not allowing anyone to die, and MoMo is the only one left to marry off, we are going to have to start coming up with other reasons to get the whole gang together more often!

My children need to know that Auntie Doris can hold her own against Auntie Joey.  And that Auntie Rachie and Auntie Bethy are the best manicurist in town. Pretty much they are the best at everything, I mean they did run Auntie Loni's Cafe all on their own at a very young age!

Their are so many stories that kids need to have and their is absolutely no way that they can be packed into a crazy weekend!  Our family seems to have an infinite amount of aunties and twice as many stories.

For starters it would take more than a long weekend just to explain how all our Aunties are technically or spiritually related.  (We have a lot of adopted Aunties)

Thing 2

Don't be fooled by this adorable face! This little girl is trouble! As I attempted to get my house cleaned up and get my family ready for our trip to Arkansas, Avery wanted to play with every toy we owned!

My Addie on the other hand was perfectly content playing with a handful of toys and staying out of my way as I prepped the house to have the carpets cleaned. But Nooooooo, Avery needed to be in the middle of everything and have my undivided attention! After she helped unfold my laundry, reposition all the toys and then spread crumbs all over my clean kitchen floor I have up! Sad but true the 1 year old wins again!

The BIG 30!

I can't believe it! I am married to an old man! How did he get so old! I mean it was just the other day that we were young and Hot and fun! Now we are so lazy and tired we use wisps to brush our teeth when we are home. Seriously is this what is going to happen to me in 6 mo. When Paul will officially be married to an old hag!

For such a big mile stone in ones life we went with a low key celebration. We spent the weekend hanging out with our 2 most favorite people! A little stress free time hanging out with the girls will but a smile on anyones face!

Us girls know how to take care of our favorite boy! A whole lot of football, some good food and a whole of estrogen seems like a perfect present all in its self!

Silly Dad just wanted cookies, no cake, just cookies! Doesn't he know he has a family full of sweet teeth. I mean who's birthday is it anyway!

It is a good thing that age doesn't mean a whole lot at this house. Sometimes we act like we are 83 and can barely make it off the couch and then their are days we act like youguns, with our a care in the world! Maybe will be responsible, respectable mature parents in this upcoming decade. One can only hope.

What the Pictures Don't Capture

I am not going to lie I have the cutest kids on the planet. I am also not going to deny my bias, I am their mother after all!

The camera needs to have a sparkle mode. It just doesn't seem to capture the little twinkle in their eye! Addie came home from a birthday party the other day and was just beaming. She was so excited to show me all her new treasures and tell me about the Princess party. But since she refuses to give me a real smile while looking at the camera. I am forced to keep a mental picture.

This is exactly what I am talking about. The girls were having so much fun, giggling as they rode Dad around the living room! But the picture just doesn't give the moment justice. Cute, but it is missing the sparkle that they had! It was one of the few times that they girls were playing so sweetly together. Unlike this morning when Addie asked Paul where Jack's Dad was, (Uncle Mark, slept here while driving thru), P: He's gone, A: Oh, where's Mom?, P: Sleeping, A: Where's Sister?,P: sleeping, A: Ohhhh! Maybe someday they won't be toads, but I am positive I will have many more pictures of Addie avoiding the camera, and until Avery learns to avoid me, I will capture all the smiles she will give me!