Trip Down South - Wedding Rehearsal

Not the greatest quality pics, but at least there are a few... and I found them to be rather amusing :)

The wedding party and a glimpse of the simple yet elegant decorations!

The perfect duck face and a certain little happy cutie pie!

Both of my little sisters are so beautiful and chic!

LOL... I made her pose for this one... my camera was being obnoxiously slow.

The rehearsal dinner deserves a post of its own...

Trip Down South - Hanging Out

A game of Candy Land with the girls

Not just any Candy land - Disney Princesses

The most beautiful princess of all practicing her violin! 

Trip Down South - Bridesmaid Luncheon

♥ Hosted by our beautiful mom ♥

Beth (best friend), Katie (bride), Martha (sister)

Martha, Me, Mom

Katie, Me, Mom

Yes, it would have made more sense to pose altogether... oh well.

Mussels~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quail

Lamb burgers~~~~~~~~~ Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

The food was amazing!!! There was definitely an actual chef in this kitchen.

Over the years, I have enjoyed Creme Brulee at several 4 star restaurants, but never have I tasted one this spectacular!

Trip Down South - A Very Special Family

Trust me, I do NOT get to see these people nearly enough, and I really enjoyed my visit with them!

We sat around chatting, enjoyed delicious homemade soup for lunch, toured their new home, and fed their cute roly-poly puppies!

♥ The best older sister a girl could ever have and I ♥

Such a darling little guy!

He was feeling rather poorly all morning, and finally, drifted off to sleep. Sometime later he awoke much improved. I had heard that he can be quite the chatterbox, but had never been privileged to experience it firsthand... until now :)

Seeing him sleeping there reminded me of this.

Trip Down South - Girls' Night Out (Part 2)

Dinner at American Girl!!!

 ♥ My beautiful niece and I ♥

You can either bring your own favorite doll and/or stuffed animal OR you can choose an American Girl doll to join you for dinner! Hook-on highchairs are provided for all.

Playing a pre-dinner game while waiting for the first course!

Appetizer - Blueberry muffins with fruit and yogurt dip!

Entree: Salmon, green beans, and roasted potatoes 

Dessert: Chocolate fondue with brownies and marshmallows

She was truly amazed to realize that, yes, she should make 3 selections and they were all for her :)

I am pretty sure these sweet girls had a fantastic evening... at least until the car ride home.

 Two girls who are allergic to dairy + dairy + a long drive = a recipe for disaster. 

I know we had a fantastic day!!!

And thank you for taking many of these great pics for me :)

Trip Down South - Girls' Night Out (Part 1)

My incredibly sweet friend and her daughter were willing to add hours to their travel time so that we could hang out for the day! We enjoyed a couple hours of  relaxation and great conversation, and then headed out for the evening. We swung by school to pick up my niece, and then off to a mall I had never heard of for a bit of shopping and window browsing before dinner.

To say it was all quite surreal and way out of my norm (being a mother to 5 boys) would be an understatement. I don't know who had bigger stars in her eyes, my niece or I!

Charis was in love from the moment we stepped into the store!

They even had a Scavenger Hunt, which she excitedly raced around to complete and won a poster! 

A token for the carousel!

It was fun to see her so happy... and so girly. Every time she passed by me, a unique pose was presented for me to catch on film!

With magazine in hand, she slowly trailed behind. I had to keep a close eye on her! Really all she wanted to do was sit and flip through it, bookmarking pages to show her mom!

Big, Big Brothers

They snuggle sleepy little boys,

And they prepare and eat bagels with hungry munchkins!

Snow Day... Again

My amateur attempts to capture the beauty of falling snow!

End of March Blizzard

Hard to believe that yesterday the grass was finally showing in most areas, with the slightest hint of green.

You can see the snow drifted partially up the door blocking our exit. 

The two lumps are the boys. I asked them to come over to the door to demonstrate the depth of the snow (it would have reached Aidan's knees and Luke's thighs)... not sure they understood what I was asking.

A drift on our back deck.

Our plow guy finally arrived the next evening

This should give you a much better idea of just how much snow we had.

A Beautiful Day for a Walk

I can't remember ever thinking that 40 degrees was warm when I lived in Kentucky. But following a winter with day after day of temperatures in the teens and twenties, 40 feels down right toasty... even the 30's are not too bad.

  

Can you spot our surprise guest? 

We don't see one of these very often, but this one seemed quite curious and kept a close eye on us for a while.

Gorgeous view

Feathered friends

I guess Asher wasn't tired this particular day, because he wanted to walk almost the entire way.

♥ My little tree hugger ♥

Playing peekaboo on the way home.