My Shadow's Wedding

In case you were picturing me with my silhouette in a wedding gown getting hitched, let me expound on that title.

This is my niece Shadow:

 Only she's 20+ years older than that now. But sometimes I still picture here as her two year old self which made me cry harder on her wedding day. Like one of those sappy commercials where a dad is watching his little girl grow up and then she's old enough to drive a Nissan.

She decided to make March 17 (St. Patrick's Day) her wedding day.

On Thursday of last week, I flew home to Indiana so that I could be there for her special day. 

My sister B picked me up from the airport and surprised me by bringing my mom with her. My hair basically shoved my mom out of the frame.

 I have a treasure trove of photos proving that I don't stop talking.

 We went out to eat at a restaurant called Granite City. My favorite part of French Onion Soup is the cheese. I just thought that was valuable information.

My sisters set aside Friday for a day of bonding. Our first order of business on all sisterly bonding days is a selfie in the car together. I would like to present to you a collage of this special time:

If you paid close attention, there's a good chance you noticed that when I placed my camera in the selfie stick for our picture, I accidentally set the place holder directly on top of the button that takes pictures. So it was repeatedly taking pictures without stopping for at least 2 full minutes while we all tried to figure out what was happening. Eventually I discovered the problem, turned the phone the other way around and we were in business.

Almost.

We couldn't stop laughing long enough for all of us to be prepared for the picture.

Putting our sunglasses on calmed us down a bit.

We spent the first half of the day in an old church building that had been converted into an antique shop. I asked one of the workers if she'd be kind enough to take our photo by one of the stained glass windows, which was no easy feat because the light from the windows kept washing us out. So I asked if she'd also apply stage makeup to us before the picture and she said no.

I bought my first pair of booties in honor of this special trip, and I ended up with blisters and cramped toes. But I looked good. So.

We ate lunch at a cute little hole in the wall joint called Pickles. My sisters K and A both applied lipstick which looked magnificent and I was determined to buy the same thing so that I can dominate the world with my lips. That's the reason for this picture.

And this one.

While were out and about, my BFF sent me this little gem. A copy of the "newspaper" the old school district I worked for put out.

Saturday was the big wedding day. My sister decided we should leave early and we grabbed lunch and a slice of pie at Essenhaus restaurant. All of the Amish waitresses there have tattoos. That's just a joke.

Finally we arrived at the Silver Palace to enjoy the beautiful special wedding day.

 Shadow had the entire event center decorated just beautifully in a St. Patrick's Day theme.

 If I could go back and do my wedding over again (which I won't because I'm too lazy) I would have a super cute welcoming table like this one.

 The aisle runner was sprinkled with little gold leaflets. They weren't real gold. I figured it out after I stuffed my pockets with a bunch of them thinking I would cash in after the wedding.

I think it's important to note here that I have the oldest iPhone known to mankind. I think it's like a negative 3. It doesn't take great shots when a room is dimly lit. 

 This might be one of my most favorite pictures of my sister K. My nephew C  in this picture had just celebrated his birthday the day before. I caught him grabbing gifts off of the gift table and shoving them in a bag believing they should really be for him. The jokes on him when he discovers a fruit tray and a set of coasters once they're opened. 

We had a lot of time to sit around and take selfies before the wedding started.

 This is Kyle, the groom. I always love to watch the look on the groom's face when he's about to see his bride walk down the aisle.

 My niece Felicia (the bride's sister) was the first one down the aisle. Isn't she cute in her green dress?

 I took an angled picture of her once she got up front because I was in a mood to act like a wedding photographer.

The time of weeping came when Shadow came down the aisle. If you listen closely, you can hear me telling my sister that I was going to ball my eyes out because she chose to walk down the aisle to the song I sang at her mom's wedding. 

 Shadow and Kyle's daughter Lydibug was the most well behaved child I've ever witnessed in a wedding party. My sister and I were just discussing how my nephew ran up to the stage to play the piano during my wedding. When my sister chased him down to stop him, he hid under it. I didn't even know any of that happened until I watched my wedding video.

I like this picture because you get a good look at Shadow's veil. I accidentally put a hole in mine when I decided it would be a great idea to sew rhinestones into it even though I don't know how to sew.

 I'm pretty sure Shadow is making sure the preacher man is reading the correct vows. I tried to sneak him some that I made up that said "I promise I will still love you even if you pick your nose and eat it".

 They were just announced Mr. and Mrs. They seem pretty happy about it so I decided I would be too.

The reception was immediately following which meant it was time for more selfies. I was also determined to get one impromptu photo of the bride and groom right away because it turns out that my favorite picture from my wedding day was taken by my cousin as Jason and I were greeting the guests to go to the reception. Look at the cutie butt couple.

 I'm like a selfie wedding crasher.

 I saw Shadow signing the marriage document and I didn't see anyone taking pictures of it so I snatched one right away. That will be $15 Shadow. Cash or Credit.

 Lydibug is so sweet.

 I asked her to twirl around for me and when she did, the aisle runner got all twisted up and I got in trouble. Totally worth it.

The centerpieces were just exquisite. I really wanted the heart shaped mirror to carry around in my purse for when I apply lipstick number 140. But I was under the impression that it would be noticed if one was missing.

 The cake. Which was vanilla AND chocolate! Everyone wins!

 Of course I realized that their faces were 100% blocked by the bouquet. 

Lydi didn't feel well. Mommy cuddles are needed, even at weddings when the mom if the bride.  Of course that all changes is the bride gets puked on.

 Shadow eventually found her pose and nailed it each time I paparazzied her.

They had this superb idea to have a photo booth set up, which was taken advantage of throughout the night.

 I'm pretty sure these photos emphasize the Irish roots in my DNA.

 The night was coming to a close with dancing brought to you by the bride & groom,

... And me. You're welcome.

The February Celebration

We've just celebrated Dawson and Evan's birthdays.

See. We bought a cake and I took a picture of it to prove it.

I've discovered that my view on birthdays is a bit different from that of most mothers. This is because I feel that a year is the perfect amount of time for a child to grow. 

You know how people say things like "you blink and they're all grown up"? I don't feel that way. It took 12 years for Dawson to become a 12 year old. I keep blinking and he stays that age until the year is up. This was especially true for me when both of the boys were babies. I kept blinking to see if they were old enough to sleep through the night.

I don't wish the years away or anything nonsensical like that. I'm just saying I'm a firm believer that God made a year the perfect amount of time for us to age. Good job God. (He reads my blog). 

I do get all sentimental when I go back through old pictures. I do so more when I look through the few baby pictures we have of Evan since I lost the first year of his photographic life minus the first two months. If I had lost his birth pictures, I would have had to march right back to the hospital and recreate the whole thing with someone else's baby, is what I'm saying.

I began blogging the year that Dawson was born. Tuesday December 19, 2006 to be exact. If my memory serves me correctly, I chose that day because the FBI released the surveillance reports on John Lennon. OR, it was because gas prices jumped in California. My memory often strongly relies on the days headlines, is what I'm saying.

This was Dawson then:

An altogether blog worthy disposition. 

(say that with a British accent, in a similar inflection of saying "a lovely sponge, that")

Here we are 12 years later, celebrating that blog worthy disposition once again.

We told him he could have some buddies over for his birthday party this year, rather than spending an entire year's salary on a location party like a trampoline joint. People don't usually say "trampoline joint" like I just did. I'm so unpredictable. 

He had his buddies Michael, Jaren and Ethan over. I didn't get permission from any of their mothers to post their pictures on my blog. When they end up famous, they'll owe me one.

I purchased cupcakes from WalMart. I realize I could have used my culinary skills for good and created a cake that all of Pinterest would have unraveled at the seams at my amazingness. However, I decided to save my energy for other important endeavors. Like writing this blog post. Cake vs Blog Post, the mighty battle.

Dawson's buddy Ethan stayed the night and in my sleep deprived state, I allowed Dawson to eat a stack of mini chocolate doughnuts for breakfast. When I've had adequate sleep and coffee, I require Dawson to eat mini chocolate doughnuts one at a time like a proper civilian. 

Dawson's number one wish on his wish list this year was the Lego Star Wars AT-M6 set which he got. I continuously had to pretend I didn't know what an AT-M6 was in order to thwart his suspicion that we got it for him. This is no small task since I'm an official #boymom and am well versed now in most things Star Wars. Did you know that Frank Oz is the voice of Yoda as well as Miss Piggy. Yeah. I'm that good.

On their actual birthday, we ask the boys to choose the restaurant where we'll eat lunch or dinner. Dawson chose Cheddar's, which I highly approved of, seeing as how I will order the entire cheese fries appetizer for myself and eat it as my meal. If only you could all be like me.

This is Evan at Cheddars. I'm fairly certain he was demonstrating The Force.

After losing all of the pictures, I became extra grateful that I blog, and have blogged all of their birthdays. I'm especially grateful that I blogged about Evan's birth story. Someday the boys will thank me that their entire lives have been posted on the internet. 

Evan didn't have an official party this year with friends. Instead we invited family over to celebrate a combined party for both boys. I call that birthday savvy.

The boys have been getting along rather well recently. I would attribute it to my wisdom and knowledge in all things motherhood, but the other day Evan yelled out "I hate this church" during a worship service we were attending as guests. So. You're guess is as good as mine regarding the brotherly love bit.

We decided to allow Evan to open his presents straight away so that it wouldn't become a point of contention. Also, giving Evan a piece of cake before opening his gifts would just double the effect of sugar in his bloodstream. Dawson seems to have grown out of that stage.

Evan currently owns 4 Bruder construction trucks. He rarely plays with them. For reasons the universe can't fathom, we still purchase these toys for him.

I had the brilliant idea to get him the Lego Dimensions Starter Kit for his birthday this year. Since I'm the evil mastermind behind the idea, I photo bombed. Also, Jason never takes pictures of me at events and I want the boys to know that I was present at major life events. (Just in case they never read my blog. I'm sort of relying on God to let them know how great my blog is so they'll read it someday).

Since it may not be evidenced in the picture, I'll let you know that Evan had no clue what Lego Dimensions was. So this gift wasn't at all exciting until he played it.

Finally it was time for cake. But first I want it to be on record that we did decorate:

Evan literally complained for several minutes straight about Dawson blowing out candles at the same time that he was. Is there any reasoning with a six year old?

The blue icing on the cake is not recommended. Please see result as pictured of my niece Mia:

It came as no surprise when Evan chose Chipotle as his birthday meal of choice. The boy lives on rice, soup and popcorn. He asked for his "favorite kind of rice" from Chipotle. The great thing about it is, a side of rice is only 97 cents. We win.

As the boys get older, it may necessitate the need for me to hire out a blogger to post about their birthdays. 

I'm getting older too. I get lazier and less creative the older I get. Now I see how old people get so grumpy. They must've blogged all their kids' birthdays.