The Wedding

It's over!  It was a really good weekend.  I think everything went really smoothly, at least it seemed like it, and Cecily was pretty good which made it so much more fun for me! 

 

Friday evening we went to the fellowship hall in Roanoke and ate pizza and set up all the tables and the decorations.  There were lots of people there, even Ed and Peggy and Steve and Renee!  

 
Saturday morning we were up bright and early for pictures at Glen Oak Park.  We had the florist make a tiny bouquet for little miss because we knew she would want our flowees....  it was so wee and cute! 

 She loved it, though she kept shoving it in poor Bob's face.  (She does that and then says mmm... good... hehe.)  Such a patient man.

 She did fairly well for pictures.  I don't think she is smiling in any of them, she's either sucking her tongue or has her mouth full of Smarties.  hehe. 

 Ahh... got to love this picture- Elsie told us to get closer together and we were all like... we don't touch each other.... hehe. 

 Such a sweet picture of little miss with Grandpa and Grandma...  too bad she's sucking her tongue.

 Aw, look at us, all grown up.

 I love this pose, I hope Elsie got a good one.  And even though she has her own bouquet, little miss 'I love flowees' is trying to "pick"  Michelle's flowers. *sigh*

 Our lovely photographers and Dad... 

 So after we finished family pictures they wanted to start wedding party pictures.... this was supposed to be the bridesmaids and Shelly and little miss wandered right over and parked herself in front of Shelly.  So funny.  She was very upset she couldn't be in the rest of the pictures.

We were next to the lagoon when we took her pretty dress off (wanted it to stay clean for Sunday) and the first thing she said was "I swimming," no thanks to her uncles. She got to hang out with grandma and eat candy while we took wedding party pictures.   I have no pictures of the groomsmen or all of us together because I was in the pictures and so was Bob...  and my camera was in the diaper bag. 

So somehow we lucked out and had a few hours at home before the rehearsal.  Actually, it was because the Roanoke fellowship hall is 45 minutes from our house, so going over there and back before the rehearsal would not have made much sense, plus someone needed a nap.  Which she didn't take.  She fell asleep in the car on the way to Washington.  Soooo... when she woke up she got to play with Carli at the condos.  

The rehearsal was funny.  The first time we practiced walking in Michelle didn't even make it down the aisle she was laughing so hard.  And all the bridesmaids were laughing at her.  O man.  Poor Ron.  hehe. 

Then we drove all the way up to Speer for the rehearsal dinner.  We took Cecily along.  I wasn't sure if I was going to regret it, but with the logistics of getting somebody to watch her it made the most sense.   She did pretty good.  She was not happy at first since it was after 6 and she was hungry.  So we broke out the stash of snacks and then she cheered up a lot.  There was one incident during supper where she gagged on a bunch of skittles that was kind of bad.... thank goodness my favorite ER/Trauma nurse was sitting right next to us so I didn't need to freak out.    

 Shelly makes some great faces.

 After supper little miss was a little bit wound up.  So I didn't really get to listen to much of what people shared.  I read her a poem, just like old times. Random acts of poetry forever!  And then I tried to keep Cecily contained; my efforts were mostly unsuccessful.  She managed to pull the tulle and the twinkle lights off the table and ate a lot of smarties in an attempt to keep her quiet.  *sigh* 

Sunday morning we sat with Kandace and Abby and we made it almost all the way through the service!  Then we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's to eat lunch and change.  Somebody's not nervous....  haha. 

 aaaahhh..... her dress is so pretty. 

 We took the traditional Wyss girls in the mirror at G and G's pic...  this is the best of several tries... 

 We were not locked out at church...  so we got to hang out and practice walking in the world relief room for a while. 

 Then we tried to get Cecily out of there...  Tate and Cailer were planning on watching her in the baby room during the wedding.  They came to get her and she started sobbing.  Sooo.... Grandma tried to take her to the baby room.  Still sobbing.  So they pulled Bob from his ushering duties and he came and got her (still sobbing) and took her outside for a while and then they went to the baby room where she calmed down and played with the kids and the toys.  So Bob did get to go up front, and she had a great time with the boys. 

I was so nervous, but we all made it in and I didn't cry!!   I only got slightly choked up walking in when I looked at Jakey up there as best man, and when Shells was walking in.  So I'm going to chalk up my weepiness at Matt and Lena's wedding to a stressful weekend traveling with a nursing baby.  My hormones have calmed down immensely since then. *grin*

Then it was off to the reception!  Cake is the best part.  They also had wraps and chips and fruit and strawberry, vanilla, coffee, and green tea ice cream.  So good.

 Hehe. 

 So I think this is the happiest little miss looked all weekend....  chilling with Brent's girls.

 I brought a bunch of stuff to decorate the car with (so that they didn't resort to using things from the bathroom like soap and lotion).  The window crayons and markers were pretty awesome.  Cecily was going around putting her little scribbles on all the post it notes she could reach.

My cousins and I know how to do a car up right.  *grin* Or something.

 I did have to follow them around erasing the inappropriate things they were writing on it...  *sigh*  The best part is it's all "clean."  Nothing nasty or slimy- just post it notes, t.p., balloons, and plastic wrap.  You can thank me later for being the car decorating Nazi, Michelle. 

 And here they come.  Notice Trent's squirt gun....and Michelle's hand behind her back...

 hehehe... he did not know she had superior armaments... best moment of the day!

 So that squirt gun has been in my car since our wedding...  I'm so glad I never took it out.  *grin* 

It took them awhile to actually leave... Dad was kind enough to wash the windshield.... 

And they drove off into the sunset leaving a trail of post it notes and toilet paper all the way into Eureka.  haha. 

So then we got to clean up.  And once again, little miss was exhausted and clingy so we left before the work was completely done.  Don't worry, we did help, and there were still a bunch of people there to finish it all up. 

And then Rita and Troy brought over my new chair!  It was very exciting.  Little miss loves it. 

I think tomorrow I am going to sleep in and do nothing but the mountain of laundry.
Blessings.
 

One more day...

One more dawn... One day more!

Yes, Shelly has that song stuck in my head.  We were singing it while we packed up her stuff.

I feel like I have been hither and yon this week.  I went to the farm on Tuesday to do sweet corn.  I went back to the farm on Thursday to finish up wedding stuff and helped Shelly move some things to her apartment.  I feel like I've been shopping every day this week for random last minute things. (window markers, crepe paper, plastic wrap, you know, important car decorating things) 

Tonight we ate pizza at the fellowship hall and helped get all the tables and decorations set up.  Tomorrow is pictures and the rehearsal..... and Sunday is the wedding.

I'm tired of wedding.  Mom is tired of wedding.  Shelly is tired of wedding. Dad is wondering where all his money went... and when he is going to get regular meals again... hehe....  So, nicest thing ever- Cecily and I ended up eating supper at the farm Thursday because Bob was busy- a very thoughtful someone brought Mom a casserole.  I need to remember that.  It was very much appreciated.  

Anyway, yeah, say a prayer for them and us (and that Cecily will not be a grump).  It will be a crazy two days. 

Blessings.

All we are is dust in the wind....



One week to go until the wedding!  And we've been quite busy.  And I've been neglecting posting...  woe is me... or woe is you?  hehe.  Anyway.

 

We've been to potluck- Cecily got to go to the farm and play.  Little miss and I picked beans at Di's and Lori's.  Well, I picked, she played with the boys and Grandpa and Cliff's bike.  She about threw a fit when we made her leave the trike... 

 

Michelle and Nathan's singing shower was last Friday.  It was fun, I guess.  I spent most of it upstairs keeping a little girl from destroying Paul and Jean's house. 

 

One day Cecily refused to fall asleep until she crashed about 5pm... sitting up on the couch with her sun glasses and tutu on.  Yeah.  Strange child.  

 Carol's church shower was Tuesday.  Fred was sick so she asked me to help her open gifts.  It was kind of awkward to be opening somebody else's presents, but it was better than writing them down...  plus I love opening presents. 

So I've been waiting and waiting for carpet to go on sale at Menards and this week it hit 49 cents. Sooooo.....  I had to hurry up and get the walls painted because painting with new carpet is no fun.  And painting with a toddler is no fun.  I got the upper part done with her awake, but I waited to paint the bottom while she was sleeping.  Two nights of painting after 10pm- one night until 1am- and I finished just in time for the carpet installer on Thursday. I was a little tired and sore.

I like it.  Bob say it feels like being on an ocean liner.  I'm not sure what to think of that. The top is called Sidewalk gray, and the bottom is called Smokestack gray although it's way more blue than gray.  And the carpet is gray.  I'm a little worried it will be harder to see spiders on dark carpet... Still a few more things to finish up- hide the pipe, the ceiling, the list is never ending.

Anyway, after the carpet guy came I had to hurry up and get ready for company Thursday night.  We had Grandpa and Grandma Beutel, Grandpa and Grandma Wyss, and Pearl and Andy for supper.  I made pork loin and forgot to check it until it was dry and needed lots of BBQ sauce.  *sigh*  O well, I think they still love me.  It was a good night and little miss had a great time being the center of attention.  She even tried to leave with them...

Friday morning I picked up my bridesmaid dress and Shelly's dress and then we went to the farm to do sweet corn.  We had to try on our dresses again and Cecily wanted a pretty dress too, so Mom got some down from the attic that were hers when she was little.  She refused to take it off so she wore it home.  Silly girl. 

 We made her put her shorts on to play outside in it.  The ribbon was for "Gussy."



 

Today was the Threshing Day at Uncle Vernon's.  Bob helped direct traffic and he wanted Cecily and I to come along.  We spent most of our time petting the animals.

 She wore her John Deere shirt.

 She also climbed on lots of tractors. 

We spent a lot of time outside today even though it's almost cold!  Hopefully it's this nice next weekend! 

Blessings.

Tradition, Tradition!

... please tell me that I'm not the only one who wants to dance around like Tevya when I hear that song, or even just that word repeated....   or am I just weird?

I finished up the week with two showers and testimonies.  Yeah.  Fun times.

Thursday night was the Wyss family shower at Jean's.  Little miss got to come with me and she was pretty good.  The most amusing part of the evening was when I was telling Nathan and Shelly about how when Bob brings change home he gives Cecily a "cut" to put in her piggy bank.  And now sometimes she demands her cut when he walks in the door.  "Want cut?"  So Shelly got out her change and Little miss dove right in for her cut.  *sigh*

On Friday Bob was home sick and I had Sarah's shower in Champaign to go to so Cecily got dropped off at Rustin and Sharon's.  They took her out to Bob's parent's for the evening and she had lots of fun without us.  I had fun too.  We were all supposed to dress up... I was very unoriginal and went for the lab coat and goggles.  Amber had lots of good food and fun games and it was really good to see those girls again.  I got home kind of late, of course. 

So when I was growing up we'd sometimes go to Glen Oak Park on Sunday evenings and listen to the free band concerts at the amphitheater.  I think G and G used to take their kids too, so taking Cecily makes it a four generation tradition.  Bob was still sick (he's finally on an antibiotic- thanks Uncle Randy!) so I  got my parents to come with me.  We had a picnic and then we let little miss play.  She was not in a super great mood.  Warm Sunday evenings are just not her thing, apparently, probably because they come after long days in church.  I think she spent more time whining about and trying to get other people's shoes than playing. 

 
I remember this playground as being the coolest thing ever.  I think she liked it, even though she couldn't wear the silver sandals...

Then we headed down to listen to the band.  She did pretty good overall.  Minus trying to steal toys from the baby in front of us.  And putting the bug spray in her mouth.  And tripping in the grass. And trying to go dance with the Civil War dance society.  And drinking so much water to get the bug spray out of her mouth that her diaper leaked.  *sigh*  It's a good thing it's a very informal event.    

Grandpa even bought her ice cream.   I did end up taking her home  half an hour before the concert was over because I wasn't sure how much longer she would last without a complete meltdown.  She fell asleep in the car... poor hot, tired, girly.

In spite of all that, I really, really enjoyed myself.  They played some fun music (that I recognized!), the period style dancing was cool, and it was just a lovely night to be at the park. 

Oh, and randomly, I have decided that I like the red cellar doors.  Anybody who can guess what the name of the color is gets... I dunno... 5 points?  They're so pretty and shiny though that it's making it obvious that our other doors need a fresh coat of paint.  *sigh*  I'm not fond of painting outside- everything ends up with bugs in the paint and other things stuck in it.

Blessings.

Red, White, and Blue

So this is carbon fiber reinforcing.  Lovely, isn't it.  *grin*  Actually, knowing that there's a 75 year warranty on this stuff and if the wall moves they have to come fix it for free is rather lovely.  And it's paintable and doesn't take up near the space as I beams.  

And this is my red cellar door.  I think it's growing on me, it doesn't seem quite as red when we're outside now.  However, that may be me just getting used to it.  What do all my wonderful readers think?  Too red?  Paint it back to a grayish?

 

You can see part of the door as it was last fall in the far right corner of this picture.... and wow, the grass and flower beds look much better this year!  Hooray for rain!!

 

There's this rock that we inherited with the house.  It used to sit in the grass right at the end of our driveway.  It was a pain to mow around.  It looked really odd just sitting there by itself by the electric pole.  So it's been on the to-do list to move it up to the landscaping for, oh, about a year now.  It got bumped to the top of the list when a certain sister of mine who will remain nameless brought her bumper down on it on a dark and stormy night.

 

It's a very heavy rock.  I missed the process of getting it into the wheel barrow.  I'm told it took three shovels, a piece of old counter top (also inherited), and lots of levering to get it in there.  I'm kind of glad I wasn't watching- I would have been very nervous. 

 

I think being married to an engineer is fantastic.  I mean, is this not an ingenious way to move a rock that is too heavy for one person to push up a slope or what?  A little redneck, but hey, it worked like a charm.  Bob lifted the wheel barrow and I very slowly pulled it forward with the mower.      

 

The peanut gallery wasn't all that impressed.

 Here it is about to be unceremoniously dumped into it's new home... so much nicer.

 Smartest thing I've done all summer:  planted a packet of wildflower seeds for Little Miss to pick.  She wants to pick every.single.flower.that.she.sees.  This is her flower patch and she can "I pickit" to her hearts content.  She filled that watering can the other day with buds.



 We didn't do much on the Fourth except go to Ron and Kary's to watch fireworks.  Somebody loved the schwide.

And the little car.

Too bad we don't like Fords.  hehe.

She didn't mind the fireworks, but she was more interested in going down the slide so she didn't really watch them much.  Bob kept an eye on her so I got to watch all the 'Purdy flowees.'

Shelly's personal shower was the next evening at Wendi-with-an-i's house.  I slaved away all day on food...  haha.  Or something, hooray for Kroger wraps and Jimmy John's!  Ellie made green tea ice cream which was different, not sure if I liked it or not. 

 So yeah, it was a good night.  Personal showers are just kind of weird by their very nature but it was good to see Shelly's friends again.  And Kacie.  Oh, Kacie. 

Otherwise, we've been laying low around here.  Cecily's been coughing and has a runny nose and Bob's got what she has plus a large dose of allergies.  I could go to five different showers this week (for four different people) but I'm only going to two.  I have my limits.  hehe. 

Blessings.

Summer time, and the Living is Easy...



Randomly, my two favorite houses in town are for sale, here and here. *sigh*  Oooo, and you could be my neighbor! 

I think I might become a kitchen aid attachment junkie.  We just got the ice cream maker attachment and it. is. awesome.  No ice, no salt, no mess, no randomly engineered contraptions to make it run and it makes the best homemade ice cream I've ever tasted.  So smooth and creamy!

I just finally got the turtle pool out for Cecily...  yes, I know these are for sandboxes, but really, they make much better pools. (Built in cover!) It's not nearly deep enough for decent digging, but it is just deep enough for splashing.  In her clothes.  In freezing water.  On a cool evening.  Crazy girl.

 

 

Yeah.  She was not happy when I made her get out, but she was shivering so much! 

 

 

Tuesday evening it was our turn to host date night/babysitting for potluck.  It was quite the night.  Bob and Rustin worked late so Sharon and I watched seven girls by ourselves for a while...  two who missed their mommy very much.  We probably had at least three girls crying at any given point for the first hour. 

 

Thankfully (fortuitously?), their grandma thought she was supposed to be babysitting them that night so they were very happy to leave the craziness.  hehe.  Sharon and I breathed a sigh of relief.

 

I sent them all outside.  They played in the sandbox, did a nature scavenger hunt,   

played in the clothesline tent, ran around and acted silly, and were actually pretty good with minimal fighting.

 I'd call it a success. 

 

This morning we had to get up early (for us-haha) because the guy came and fixed the basement wall.  I need to remember to take some pictures to document the process... for posterity. Poor Cecily was rudely awakened by a very loud grinder right under her room...  but, then she took a super long nap so I painted the cellar door.  Definitely need pictures of that.  It's red.  Very red.  Not sure how I feel about it yet. 

 

Blessings.