Today was definitely what I would refer to as a very formal day. We were all going to get gussied up to attend the wedding, where Emily would dazzle the churchgoers with her flower petal dropping abilities. We had to be up and at 'em bright and early in order to assure this eventful day went off without a hitch.
First on the agenda was styling my sweet girl's hair. Let's get one thing straight...I am not a hair doer. At this point, I can safely say that I have mastered the art of brushing hair. I am barely proficient at the art of the pony tail. I was in way over my head before I even got started. After foolishly turning down 2 offers by Stephanie, my extremely hair-styling-talented sister in law, I took a quick trip to the store for hair spray and bobby pins and got down to business. One hour later, I had a very excited little girl with a very sloppy up-do. Luckily, Steph un-did and then, subsequently, re-did the do before the event.
I am happy to say that both kiddos were absolutely wonderful during the entire event. Ethan sat nicely in church (Thank you, Teddy Grahams), and Emily pulled off all of her flower girl responsibilities delightfully. At the reception, Emily danced a Polka with her great uncle Joe, and Ethan danced up a storm in the center of a circle of middle aged ladies. Pics soon to come!
Emily is fortunate enough to be the flower girl in a wedding tomorrow; consequently, I was the lucky one chosen to escort her to the rehearsal dinner this evening. Looking at the young couple, I was reminded of this exciting time in my own life...the frenzy of wedding planning, the anticipation of the big event, and that so-in-love feeling that just made me so sure I wanted to be a Mrs.
This got me to thinking about how gosh darned lucky I am. I really have lucked out in the whole love department. I am thinking about when I met Andy, and how at first, he was my chem lab partner. Now, he is my life partner. There are not a lot of people who fit together as perfectly as he and I do. We are alike in many ways, but I believe it is our differences that make us so compatible. We are both very spiritual and loyal. We both value our family above all else. On the other hand, Andy is the most geographically talented person I know, and I have gotten lost in my own neighborhood. I am super sociable while he would prefer to keep a small, more close knit social group. I can't think of a duo that needs each other more than he and I. Without him, I would never have matching socks, and he would never go on spontaneous "family fun" trips. Our relationship takes the whole "You complete me" thing to a whole new level. OK, enough of all that sickeningly sweet stuff.
I have been feeling the need to write lately, so this seems to be just the answer to my increasingly worrisome inability to just. sit. still. Why exactly is it that the busier I am, the harder it is to relax? I think the answer to this question is somewhere in the Mom handbook....unfortunately, I have misplaced mine. If you have a spare laying around, please let me know. I think there are probably some useful instructions in there on, say, removing splinters or carrying out your daily responsibilities when you are sick as a dog.
In the meantime, I will continue to muddle through on my own, which unfortunately results in situations like:
Kids eating markers:
and kids entering the shower while almost fully dressed:
