Wedding Week!!!

It's been way too long since I have updated here, not because I didn't have anything to write about, but because I have been so busy.  There is a lot to catch up on, but for today, I'm focusing on the wedding.

My baby sister, Amanda, got married on Saturday to Anthony Trejo.  We are so happy for them and excited to have Anthony as a member of the family (the boys LOVE their new uncle Anthony)!

So this last week was packed full of wedding related activites that kept us all so busy I think we are all in need of a week-long vacation!

First, Thursday night was Amanda's bachelorette party.  We rented out a suite in one of the hotels down town and had waaaaaaay too much fun until the wee hours of Friday morning.  It was a perfect way to spend time with my sisters and their friends and to kiss goodbye Amanda's single life.

                                                     Me and my BEAUTIFUL sisters! 


We stayed the night at the hotel and after picking up the boys at my mom's house the next day, I had exactly 3 hours to try and finish the groom's cake I had volunteered to make for the wedding before we had to be at the rehearsal dinner.

I didn't finish it all then, so I was up until 1 am Saturday morning finishing it up.

For those of you who don't know, Amanda and Anthony are not only HUGE soccer fans, but they actually initially met in college while both on the school's soccer teams.  So the following cake was fitting....

 I am pretty critical of myself and the cakes I've done so far and it could have been a little cleaner, but overall, I was pretty proud of this cake and was a hit at the wedding.

So, that brings us to Saturday and the wedding.  At this point, many of us were running on about 8 hours of sleep over the previous two nights and we were exhausted.  But, we were more excited and got an early start to the day getting everything set up and ready.

The wedding went off perfectly and Amanda looked beautiful!  I was a little preoccupied with all the wedding and bridesmaid duties, so I personally didn't take any pictures.  So until the professional ones come back, these ones I snagged from Robyn's sister-in-law off of facebook will have to do.

Doesn't Amanda look gorgeous? 

Jordan (Robyn's nephew), Andrew and Dillon (Friend of the family)

The Happy Couple and the Flower Girl

Finally, we spent Sunday relaxing with famiily at my parents house for the 4th of July.  We had lots of family members in town for the wedding so it was nice to catch up with everyone and just relax.  Amanda and Anthony didn't leave for their honeymoon until today, so they even spent yesterday with us.

The whole crew.....

Ben had to be content with my smaller LEGAL fireworks this year after his run-in with the law last year!

Sparklers.....a 6-year-old's best friend

Andrew, getting a hand from his new uncle Anthony.

Lucas was not nearly as impressed with the fireworks as everyone else was!

It was also a little bittersweet because it was a good bye party of sorts for my cousin Ryan.  He has been living here for the past couple of years and we have all really enjoyed having him here, especially my boys.  Ryan is leaving tomorrow to work in Laos for 2 years.  He will definitely be missed and we wish him nothing but luck and happiness while he's gone!  Good luck Ryan!!

So, I guess that's all.  It was an amazing week, and even worth the lack of sleep.  Now, I have to work on catching up on all the housework and homework I put aside last week.

No rest for the weary I guess.

Busy, busy weekend

I had such a great mother's day weekend with my boys this last weekend! 

I have a lot to blog about this time so you better make sure you're good and comfy before reading this one ;)

First off, last week was Teacher Appreciation Week

so I took some time to do something I love and made the boys' teachers some cards. 

I haven't had near enough time to scrapbook lately, so it's always fun when I can find time to do it.

While I was at it, I made a Mother's Day card for my mom, and another card as well.

After I got done with all of this scrapbooking,

I was left with a huge mess in my cramped little space.

 

This however, prompted a suggestion to the boys for a mother's day gift

of some new organization and storage items for all of my scrapbooking supplies.

So, Grant being the amazing hubby that he is, 

took me to Michael's, let me pick out what I wanted,

and here are the before and after pics:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So much better, and easier to work with!

Some day I hope to have a whole room devoted to scrapbooking,

but for now, I'm totally happy with this!

Next, because it was so beautiful this weekend, we spent a lot of time outside.

Grant took me to Ruby Tuesday for lunch where we sat on the patio overlooking the lake.

And then we took a walk around the lake, completely ignored the "Don't feed the ducks" signs,

and offered the ducks the last of Isaac's french fries :)

We also cleaned off the patio and the furniture

and Grant also bought me a big plannter and some flowers to go in it.

That, and I also needed to plant the marigold seeds that came in the Mother's Day card Isaac made for me.

I got spoiled for sure!

And yes, I did say that I cleaned off the patio.

All that mess from the wisteria is from one afternoon.

It's almost impossible to keep up with, but I think it still looks pretty out there anyway.

While we happened to be spending all this lovely time outdoors,

the boys were playing with one of their toy airplanes

and daddy got it stuck up in a tree.

So what did I learn this weekend?

That left to their own devices, 3 boys will turn getting an airplane out of a tree into a pretty comical event.

The logical thing to do when something is stuck up in the tree is to throw something else at it.  

So, up goes a skateboard......which got stuck as well.

So, then up goes a broom.....which knocked the skateboard and airplane out, but got stuck itself.

So, then up goes a little plastic chair, over and over and over again.....to no avail.

The last thing that got thrown up was a soccer ball....still, no luck.

Finally, daddy decides to try the ladder.......

and down comes the broom.

Here's some documentation: 

the broom...stuck in the tree

see the broom handle sticking out of the top left side of the tree?

first Isaac threw the chair.....

then Andrew.....

then daddy...

daddy trying with the soccer ball....

and finally, daddy saved the day with the ladder!!

As I am practically rolling on the ground laughing as I watch this all unfold, and taking pictures as well,

Grant isn't very amused at me sitting back with the camera instead of helping out!

When I told him it would make for a great blog entry, he said,

"What so you can blog about how stupid we were?"

No. 

I in no way think my boys are stupid.

Growing up with mostly girls around though,

I am constantly amazed at how guys' brains work.

That's what this is, a facinating study into the mind of boys.

Besides, I love them all so dearly, and

they provide so much humor in my life.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Anyway, thanks to all of my boys for a wonderful weekend and all the laughs!

I am truly blessed :)

"I'm not imagining it!"

Today, I showed Isaac and his friend Blake the bruise on my leg that I got at soccer the other night.

 

It's been getting worse over the last couple of days and is pretty big and bruised right now.

After Isaac saw it (and his eyes just about popped out of his head), he turned to Blake and said,

"Hit me.  Right here on my leg." 

Blake proceeded to hit Isaac, and then Isaac said,

"I guess I'm not imagining it.  That is the biggest bruise I've ever seen!"

So since it was so impressive to a 6 year old, I thought it was worth showing of. 

Here's 3 different pictures from the last 3 days....definitely getting worse.

Oh, and in case anyone had forgotten that I am a fair-skinned redhead,

these pictures definitely shows off just how much I am in need of some sun! :)

Andrew's not the only one

Grant and I have been playing on an indoor soccer league for the last couple of months. 

We're on a begininers team with a buch of other people in my family and and because we've just started playing as a team together, we haven't won very many games.

But last night....

we won!

Not only that, but I got beat up in the process.

First, I got tripped and fell. 

I landed right on my knee and on top of the lovely turf burn, I have a pretty nasty bruise.

Then, I got the ball kicked right into my hip. 

I actualy was intentionally trying to block it and it worked. 

So in the end, the bruise I have on my hip is worth it.

Below is a picture of the bruise on my thigh. 

I figured it best to keep pictures of my hips off the internet! :)

Open day of the season.....and the ensuing battle wounds

So today was opening day of the baseball season here and Andrew had a doubleheader today. 

Andrew has graduated into the "real" baseball league this year where they play by all of the real rules including lead-offs, slidding, and having the kids pitch.

We were a little worried when he first started practicing, but Andrew's coach is EXCELLENT and has really helped Andrew, and all the rest of the players, blossom into quite the ball players.

Today though, as we watched these 8, 9 and 10 year-olds hone their skills as they attempted to play a real ball game, we knew it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt.....

yep, it was Andrew.

A monsterous pitcher on the other team (whose fastball probably rivals kids twice his age) was having a tough time getting much control over his strength and his pitches were going wild.

Andrew moved out of the way for 2 pitches, but the third one caught him in the back....hard.

He took it like a little man though and his coach took him out of the game to rest. 

Now, his dad has convinced him to be proud of his battle wounds and I'm sure he'll be showing it off to all of his friends!

Other than that nasty event though, the games went great. 

It's going to be a fun season!!

The Dragon Master

We took the boys this weekend to go see the new movie, How to Train Your Dragon (which was very cute by the way) which inspired Andrew to create his own dragons today.

For those of you who have seen the movie, the first one is Night Fury and the second one (chasing Night Fury) is "the big one fat one at the end of the movie" according to Andrew.

He's such a little artist!

Spring has sprung.....

As I was sitting out the computer and looking out the window today, I was noticing how pretty everything was looking as it is begining to bloom.

Today may have not been the nicest day (it's cloudy and raining on and off), but the nature in my backyard was beautiful anyway and the raindrops even made for some good pictures!

(The picture of the pink and white flowers on the table are an arangement I got from Andrew's class today in appreciation for volunteering in there this year.  It was so sweet because it came with letters from each student for me.  Very cute!)

Enjoy!