Rinse. Repeat.

Tomorrow is our 10th wedding anniversary--I was scrolling back through the annals of my blog and found this fun meme I did a few years ago. Enjoy =)

1) When was your wedding day?

June 30, 2001

2) What day of the week was it?

Saturday

3) Did you get married in a church?

Yes, we got married in the church I grew up attending.

4) How many in your wedding party?

4 bridesmaids, 3 junior bridesmaids, 2 flower girls, 1 ring bearer, 4 groomsman, 4 brothers acting as ushers, and a partridge in a pear tree

5) How many guests were invited to your wedding?

around 200

6) How long where you together before the engagement?

we dated for 1.5 years

7) How long did you wait to Tie The Knot after your proposal?

6 months

8) Did you register for gifts? If yes, where?

Pier 1 and JC Penny (Target didn't exist in NY yet! ack!)

9) Who did you hire as your photographer & videographer?

some crazy old photography teacher dude who took terribly mediocre pictures

10) Did you have a DJ or a band?

nope--a harpist playing show-tunes and classical music

11) What was your First dance to?

we don't dance and didn't have any dancing at our wedding---but we did sing From This Moment On to each other during the ceremony

12) Did your father walk you down the aisle?

yes

13) What color were the bridesmaids' dresses and groomsmen's vests?

a pretty bluey-purpley color (although, they weren't the color i had ordered--periwinkle blue)

14) Did you have a bridal shower?

yes--a racy one with my friends, a tearful one with my family and a lively one with my church family

15) What type of limo did you get?

a big black one...um, how many types of limos are there?

16) What were your flowers?

i had white roses and the girls had blue hydrangeas...sorta....there was so much hideous baby's breath (even though i forbade it's use) you could barely see the rest of the flowers...and not to speak ill of the dearly departed, but flower chick wasn't a great listener.

17) What flavor was your cake?

vanilla--yum-o

19) What type of wedding gown?

It was two pieces--a poufy cinderella-y skirt and a corset top with silver embroidery. so pretty! i tried it on as a joke but ended up lov-ing it.

20) What was the weather like that day?

hot, sunny....and then thunder-showered during the drive to the reception but cleared up for the rest of the day.

21) Did you have an open bar?

No we don't drink and didn't care if anyone else wanted too--much to the chagrin of nearly all my extended family members--tee hee!

22) Where did you go on your Honeymoon?

the poconos---it was wonderful. BEST. WEEK. EVER. so romantic, and peaceful and wonderful--i'll never ever forget it!!

23) What was your favorite thing about your wedding day?

just. being. married. finally! married! finally!!! and seeing my brothers dressed up in tuxedos, they're so handsome! and smiling so much my face muscles hurt! and seeing my grandmother dressed up, happy, sober and alive--i miss that so much.

24) Did anything go wrong?

not if you don't count the fact that: the church had no air conditioning, it was like 100 degrees (literally), the ring bearer fainted, the bridesmaid dresses weren't the ones i ordered, the baby's breath...but really, i wouldn't change a thing--it was the best day of my life up to that point--it was such a day of joy for me--I'll never forget how amazing it all was.

25) How long have you been married?

7 years, 9 months (but it feels like just yesterday we were newlyweds!)

**updated to: 9 years, 364 Days. Best. Days,Months,Years Ever. =)

it was a little overcast and rainy here yesterday

which i love 

because then

it's the perfect reason

to just stay home

and relax

not that i could have gone anywhere if i wanted to

because maeve, at the very mention of leaving the house,

threw herself on the ground and said,

"but maaaamaaa i just want to stay home and play with my tea set and watch movies."

and to that i replied, 

"yes. let's do."

so maeve and ezra sat peacefully on their respective sofas and watched bubble guppies

while amelie enjoyed a grandgirl day with grannybrownhouse

and then we napped

and i felt tired and lazy

so i laid on the couch and ate takeout with my husband

and it was good.

Just Some Things

1. I've been desperate for highlights and unwilling/unable to shell out the $100+ it would cost to get them from my favorite stylist at my favorite salon...so I bought a box of highlighty-goodness from *The Walmarts* and trained Mr. Wonderful in the fine art of hooking hair through a plastic cap.

Voila!

$10 highlights! (although, it looks a bit more like my hair was lightened than high-lighted)

2. I used to listen to music for hours and hours when I was younger....from the time my parents bought me my first cd player (I was 12 =) until around the time I started working full time/got married/had children.

And then I only listened to snippets here and there and in the car and maybe a speck or two through the internet.

There aren't many songs that I actually want to keep listening to (how much electro-pop-synth-fakey-fakeness can you listen to?) and then I started listening to Adele....

Songs like her's make me want to buy an album and go to a concert...

3. This is Ezra before church today (playing with a prize from the party we went to yesterday). =)

4. We had a happy day and got to spend time with nearly all of our Jersey family this afternoon! Now the littles are sleeping soundly and I'm working on a *slow jogging mix* for my ipod. =)

Good night!

we enjoyed another great day--i'm fully convinced that even the most mundane things are made joyous and lovely just because we're all together.

my mom sent us *lunch out* money so we were able to treat the kids (and ourselves, yay!) and then spent the afternoon at a fun n' sassy cowgirl party for a little newly-turned-4 friend!

naptime didn't happen for the girls--so we had some extra playtime outside. =)

oh, and they helped daddy sort the ginormous pile of coupons that needed to be taken care of. and now it's nearly bedtime (favorite) and i get to enjoy quiet-watching-tv-time with my husband. happy!

pictures of the biker kids:

it has been a wonderful week with my little family!

mr. wonderful has been home every day and we haven't done many big things but 

even the little things are more wonderful when we are together!!

we have spent a lot of time swimming, playing outside, running errands, and even snuck in a delightful trip to the shore with one of our favorite families yesterday. 

naps have been plentiful and long.

the weather is hot and sunny.

the house is clean.

the cupboards are full.

the babies are healthy.

and i am so very thankful for our little life together.

Back in the winter Amelie-girl decided to take up violin! She was very excited about it and had been asking for one for months and months before she finally started lessons. However, it didn't take long to realize that she wasn't particularly motivated to practice and in her own words, "Mama, I want to play piano because then I can sit down when I play because standing up to play violin is too hard."

HA!

So, she finished out the school year on violin and this week started working on her beginner piano book with my husband--and WHAT a difference! 

She has been diligently practicing and really really loves it! (must be genetic with the super-pianist father and the mediocre-pianist mother! =). 

Mr. Wonderful and her played their first duet today-

-Jolly Old St. Nicholas.

And seriously? Seeing my baby at the piano with my precious husband = SOB.

Happy sob though--like life is coming around full circle and there is too much joy to take in. =)

i am failing at taking pictures lately--my kids were so cute and coordinated today and i just couldn't motivate myself to pull out the camera. oh well. =)

this was my husband's first day off and we had a great day--starting with getting to sleep in until 7:30! amazing!!! this *never* happens!! amelie was up at 6 but came downstairs and watched a movie like a good girl! thank you amelie! =)

mr. wonderful took the kids to chuck e cheese this morning while i spent my groupon at old navy--tee hee!

the littles and i took a nap and then we headed to the pool for some family swim time--it was lots of fun and ezra and maeve only almost-drowned twice. =)

i had fatcamp tonight with my friends at church and am ready to put my feet up and re.lax. 

maybe tomorrow i'll pull out the camera and do a better job at documenting life. 

maybe. =)

*today* is the day i've been waiting for...

...my husband's last day of school!!!

yippee!

he has a few days off before he has to go back to work again so i'm excited to spend a few days as a family just doin' our thang. 

we are adjusting to having amelie home with us now--things seem a bit more noisy with the added child =) but it is wonderful to have them all together--i love watching their faces light up when they see each other! there is nothing better than seeing how much your babies love each other!

that's it for now--i'm looking forward to putting my feet up and listening to my girls sing each other to sleep in bed. =)

good night!

Happy Father's Day!!

I am so very thankful for my husband on Father's Day (and always!)! He is such a wonderful Dad--always hands on and helpful and so super fun. I love you honey and am so thankful for you and your amazing Daddy skills!!!!

Happy Father's Day also to my Dad! I wish we could see you more often Dad but I'm so thankful for you and for everything you taught me and continue to try to teach me when I'm in the mood to listen. Thank you for always caring about me and making me feel special and beautiful and for being such a great Grandpa!

And Happy Father's Day again to my wonderful Father-In-Law!  Thank you for everything you to do encourage us and for being a great Pop-pop to three wild and crazy kids!!! =)

We love you guys!

Couponing is not for the faint of heart....

nor is it for those short on counterspace...

HA!

i've been working all afternoon (off and on) on matchups for a great big giant sale/catalina at shop rite. 

whatta workout! =)

before that, we had a busy morning--i was able to go to Ikea with my friend Brie and her babe, to pick up a few odds and ends (and now i must go back as one thing i went for was out of stock gah!) and afterward had lunch at my favorite applebees and it was lovely and i had no children with me and i liked it. =)

shortly after i returned home another friend, Emily, and her family visited and that was very lovely too!!

*it was a happy morning!*

and then came nap-time and made the day even better!

=)

i'm thankful for every happy, sunny, lovely, family day we have!

the little ones are in bed 

and my husband is at school playing for graduation

and i am reflecting on the year that has flown by

amelie has changed and grown up so much over the year!

she absolutely loved being at school all day with her friends!

her teacher was wonderful too!

she not only learned reading and writing, but they also started working with money, telling time, addition and subtraction! i know i didn't do any of that stuff until 1st or 2nd grade!! (remember when kindergarten was just counting from 1-10 and learning the alphabet/sounds?!).

i'm so looking forward to having the summer together and getting to enjoy having amelie around all the time instead of infrequently!

she's growing up so quickly--becoming more independent, and confident and even-tempered.

i love that kid! 

also--i love summer!!!

First Day Of School :: Last Day Of School

I'll have to come back and blog about it when I'm doing crying about it! =)

{Insert Amazing Title Here}

*I have a friend that titles all of her blog posts with song lyrics--which I think is amazingly smart because there's always a song that'll say something relevant about everything. I've been super uninspired in the title department lately!

 ***

*Today I was lucky enough to have a good friend from high school (whom I haven't seen since then) over for a visit! She recently moved into the area and it was awesome to start to catch up with her! Her sweet girls are insanely cute and they played so well with Ornery Ezra and Mischievous Maeve. =) 

 ***

*I can't tell you how lovely it is to get together with someone who knew you when you were:

a)way too boy crazy

b)in the awkward years

c)way too sarcastic

d)totally uncool

e)way too bad a dresser

and still likes you anyways. =)

Thanks so much for crossing the bridge Em!!!!

***

*Tomorrow is Amelie's last day of school (I thought it was Friday but turns out Kindergarten gets out a day earlier than everyone else). 

I Can't. Believe. It. 

She has changed so much over the course of the last year! 

I'm so proud of her! *tear*

*** 

*My husband has some days off next week and I am super stinkin' excited about it!

***

*Have you ever known someone who is never happy about anything? And really you are just dying inside for them to look around and see how amazing everything they have is but they can't see it.

***

*I need to continue to work on being thankful for every little thing, every little minute of every little day. 

The time we have is short. 

So if you can take a deep breath and use your lungs to sing and your legs to walk and your eyes to see and your ears to hear and your arms to hold your loved ones you are wealthy beyond reckoning in the things that truly matter.

Right?

Happy Wednesday! 

Window(s) Shopping: Old Navy

I can not believe that the last week of school is here!

It seemed the year dragged and flew all at the same time!

I'm so happy summer has arrived--it's absolutely my favorite to be with my kiddos, and have no set schedule--aside from whatever fun things we decide to do!

I took a few pictures of them on Sunday--cuties!

why is it that 

my children can sit perfectly peacefully for long stretches of time

and as soon as mommy gets up and softly whispers

"i'm going upstairs! i'll be right back!"

no sooner does my foot touch the top step when i hear

KARATE DEATH MATCH 2011

with screaming and laughing and jumping and general mayhem. 

silly kids!

My Precious Family

I snapped a few pictures of my favorite people in the world yesterday!

Love them!!

My Beautiful Big Girl Amelie Rose!

She's looking so grown up lately! I can't take it!

My Handsome Husband Of Nearly 10 years!

My Baby Girl Maeve Veronica 

(or Maeve Moron-ica as Amelie says =)

She doesn't act much like a baby anymore! Le Sigh....

My Favorite Little Guy Ezra-Boy!

He's so funny and bad! It's hard to say no to him when he flashes his beautiful smile!!

I woke up this morning and felt so unmotivated and worn. out.

So--we didn't do too much today--just a couple of errands and I took a nice long nap when the little kids did and that seemed to pep me up a bit. =) I just can't remember the last time that I woke up and didn't feel like cleaning, organizing or working on house projects! I guess everyone needs a quiet day once in a while.

Anyways, I was going through the pictures in my camera and came across one I didn't post--from when my Ma was here visiting! Our visits always go by too fast!

Last weekend, when my Mom was here, the girls were outside and Maeve decided to hop on her bike and ride! This is big news because I've been trying to coax her to ride for months and months and she just wasn't interested in pedaling--she pushed her feet across the ground. I guess she just wasn't ready to do it until now! She can go so fast--it's amazing how they go from 0 to 60 with a new skill! =)

My Biker Chicks!

And last but not least, a picture of the face my handsome guy makes whenever Mama says, "Say Cheese Ezra!"

Love. Him.

Happy Saturday night! =)

It's *That* Time Again! Movie Reviews & Netflixy Notes =)

I've watched a few movies here and there, over the last 6+ish weeks. Here's my thoughts, you know, just 'cause I can't help but share 'em. =)

Lady Jane

I am a huge sucker for 

a)period pieces 

b)helena bonham carter 

c)english monarchy/dynasty/based on history anything. 

This movie boasts them all but was just so-so for me. Based on actual historical events, Jane's parents marry her off and plot to place her on the throne of England after the death of the boy-king Edward. She marries Guilford and they fall deeply in love in the movie (although, in real life they were more deeply in love with their Protestant values and keeping the Catholics off of the throne then they were with each other) only to quickly lose everything they gained together. Good, but not great movie for people who love history and romance.

Sherlock Holmes:

I fully expected to hate this movie. I'm not a huge fan of Robert Downy Jr. and figured it would be ridiculous. And, it *was* a little ridiculous but in the completely *right* way. This movie was definitely along the vein of Indiana Jones (romance, action, adventure oh my!) with a great mystery, a terrible villain and lots of stop-motion special affects that I really enjoyed. Rachel Mc Adams also stars as Holmes' mysterious love interest. I thought the movie was great fun and am looking forward to the upcoming sequel!

Knight and Day:

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie--two big budget stars, and loads of big budget special affects and it was just ok. I have a hard time viewing Tom Cruise as an interesting male lead anymore after all of his recent crazy. This movie actually had a pretty decent twist of an ending which saved it from some of the rather formulaic token-action-movie-sequences it earnestly stuck to (jumping out of windows, crashing things into other things, blowing up things, super-human-ability things etc).

Never Let Me Go:

This movie is as terrible as it is wonderful, depressing as it is thoughtful, sweet as it is sobering. I loved it. The setting is England in the 50s-90s and follows a group of children as they grow up and try to "live" their lives even though they were created as living organ donors for other people. The whole point of their existence is to give up their lives, one piece at a time, for others. They are thoroughly indoctrinated and seem almost wholly content to fulfill the dark purpose set before them. The actors who played the three leads as children were absolutely phenomenal and beautifully cast. I whole-heartedly recommend this movie although be aware that there are some graphic moments (depicting intimacy and surgery.

The Switch:

I desperately want to like Jennifer Aniston in anything besides *Friends*. And after watching this movie, I can honestly say that I still don't. Ha. Sorry, it's a terrible movie (and even Jason Bateman and his cuteness can NOT save it). It's watchable but ridiculous and silly. Ok, but not good and definitely not great.

Black Swan

I wanted to like this movie for Natlie Portman and the Oscar and the beautiful ballerinas. Instead I had to watch nearly the entire thing on fast forward. It was dark, twisted, full of crazy, sad, gross and weird. In a word--Black Swan = Icky. 

Prince of Persia Sands of Time:

This is another Indiana-Jones-esque fun movie with lots of speed and flash and action. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would (you never know what you're gonna get when it's a Netflix Instant Watch =), and you'll enjoy it too as long as you're ready to not take it too seriously. =)

Wuthering Heights

I don't know what to write about this movie. If you have any familiarity with Wuthering Heights you know that Heathcliff is a completely despicable character. Deeply damaged (maybe even from his very birth), Heathcliff is a gypsy child adopted by a loving and kind gentleman. The gentleman has a wild daughter, Catherine, and an uptight son--H falls madly, deeply in love with the daughter all while being tormented by her mean brother. And though Catherine truly loves H she ends up with another man which sends H on his demonic quest for revenge. All the revenge he enacts doesn't assuage the pain he feels over the loss of Catherine and H himself never goes through any redemption but spirals further into madness and despair. A classic book, a great telling and engrossing actors--upon watching you wish there were some hope for Heathcliff though the story offers none at all.

WedNesDay

it was perfectly toasty outside today and we enjoyed  a morning with dear friends and babies and the baby pool and yummy lunch that i didn't have to cook

amen!

(i would have taken pictures but alas, my point and shoot is dead and needs replacing)

i took a nap when the babes did and woke up and

it transformed outside to hot and steamy land

(still better than cold and frozen land)

so we pulled out the pool 

and sat in the shade 

and watched our children as they played 

and played

i'm thankful for the little quiet moments that make up our days

so much happy

and laughy

and noise.y.

takeout and tv for the adults tonight = my favorite

hope you're having a happy little week wherever you are!

Concert Pics

MuhnDay

My Mom is still here visiting for the grand event today--Amelie's spring concert! She did so well (and so did all of her little friends!). It was super cute and fun and she even had a small speaking part and some solos! She did an awesome job and we are so proud of her! Maeve and Ezra did a great job sitting quietly too! So yay! My husband's parents came too and it was wonderful to have them there!

I'll have to upload the picture later because Blogger is NOT being cooperative!

We were looking at the calendar today and Amelie only has 9 days of school left! Yay! and Wow! I don't know where this year went and I am looking forward to having everyone home--although, I'm sure it will be interesting! =)

That's it for now! Happy Monday and pictures later when Blogger is behaving ! =)

I went away this weekend (and survived leaving my babies for the first time thankyouverymuch =), and enjoyed my time immensely! My point and shoot camera bit the dust so you'll have to settle for this awesome stock-image of the conference logo: =)

The college campus was absolutely gorgeous (and filled with allergens =), and the weather was perfect/a little crispy. 

***********************

The best part of all, aside from learning from some awesome ladies was that my dear and darling bff, from amish-land, came with me! It has been many many years since we were able to hang out regularly and many years since we've been able to hang out without many small children scurrying around! It is always so refreshing to spend time with someone who is super fun, easy-going, is in the exact same place with frustrations/goals as me, is super encouraging and completely drama free. I can't say enough good things about my dear friend Sarah! Also, she showed up in Jersey with a pretty much completely matching outfit to me (gray dress, red tank top) which pretty much proves that we are soul mates. =) 

********************

We went with a local church group full of very kind of funny ladies and really enjoyed learning, singing and spending time with them! Many of the workshops were about things that I really need to work on in my own life, which I'll share at another time, and I found it completely relevant. The college staff did an amazing job trying to make everything special--it was all very well done and I felt very taken care of and pampered. Favorite =).

 ****************

What a blessing! I'm so thankful I could go and that my amazing husband MORE than held down the fort when I was gone--everything was clean, the children were happy and he even went out and did some couponing deals (that he matched up on his own). Amazing. I'm also thankful for my dear Mother-In-Law who fed my family dinner and helped with baby-watching and school pickup. 

******************************

My Momma is even here now so I'll close for now--happy weekend! I'm so glad that God stretched me out of my 2-mile-comfort-zone! =)