Lonnnnng overdue....

Lovelies, this year is whizzing by.  It's November already! October was hugely busy with my brother's wedding, catering jobs for chef and life!  We managed to finally get some family pictures taken.  The last time we took family pictures, S3 was less than a year old.  Terrible, I know.  My dear friend Kim (go like her on Facebook! KimmyBee Photography) and her friend Natalie took pictures of us in the park and we could not be more thrilled with the way they turned out! Sneak peek!

Ohmylanta!!

Psst. Lovelies, I have recently become an addict.  I was warned. I was warned that this addiction is worse than crack, but I took it on. I took it on and now I am full fledged addicted to....




Pinterest. OMG!!! Where has this site been all my life? It is hands down, the best.site.evarrrrrrr!!!! Projects and tutorials and funny stuff, oh my! The website is basically a snapshot of internet stuff that you like.  So you 'pin' them on your theme boards and then your pins (interests) are shared.  You can follow friends, like others' pins and so forth.  All I can say is wow. Yay! Wow.  Check the site.  YOu've been warned.  Follow me into the depths of craftiness and DIY home decor.  You will not regret it.  Or maybe you will.....

Some pics from the last month!

Wordless Weekend! ;)

Let's catch up!!

Lovelies, we have some catching up to do!  My younger brother got married and we schlepped the tribe all the way to the east coast.  It was an adventure! Everyone (including S4!!) traveled extremely well.  We had coloring books and snacks for the plane and everything went pretty well!  We got upgraded from a minivan to a Ford Expedition (yay!!), got lost from the airport to the hotel (we were turned around for a good 2 hours in the wee hours of the morning.  Not cool at all!).  We stayed in a big mansion with an amazing backyard but best of all, my brother looked happy.  He looked happy and relaxed.  I will admit that I was worried.  My big brother was able to make it and all was well with the world.  We were all together for a short while, but were happy to have shared in my little brother's day. 
As complainey (sp?) as he is, hubby told me that he really enjoyed himself, which caught me off guard because all he did was complain about the weather before we even left the airport after we landed! The Ss were in the wedding party and looked so awesome.  I was in the wedding party too, but after seeing the pictures, I know I have some work to do. (eek!).  The airplane we were on for the ride home was delayed, causing us to miss our connection and be put on standby, only to not make it onto the last flight out to AZ, thereby sending my entire family into semi freakout mode.  We got bumped to the next day's flight and were put up in a hotel and given food vouchers, courtesy of the airline.  Still plan on sending the airline a letter informing them of the inconvenience that we were made to deal with, with 4 children in tow!
Pics in a bit!  ;)

Wedding, marriage, little brothers.

Have I ever told you that I have two brothers?  I am the most blessed sister to be smack in the middle of my two brothers.  It's good to be a middle child with such awesome beings on either side.  Well, the youngest of our sib-set is getting married.  I'm trying not to freak out.  I'm not even sure if he can believe it! Of course, I have my big sister hat on, trying to get to know my future sister in law, which is cool. Plus I gave them both the 'plan your life, not just your wedding' speech while they had me on speaker phone a few weeks ago.  I am happy, worried, excited, all the feelings that go along with this type of occasion.  I'll probably bawl at the ceremony- just because my baby brother is officially grown.  He has been a grown man for awhile now, but jeez! lol

They are not planning on having babies right away, but you best believe that I will be educating/advocating for a midwife or doula and breastfeeding, co-sleeping, cloth diapering and all the other facets of natural parenting that society has been so slow to get back to.  My future sister in law seems to be open to try cloth diapering- she even sent me a cloth diaper after S4 arrived.
Lovelies, what advice would you give to a newly engaged/wedded couple? Is there any advice that you got and loved? Hated? Laughed at? Wished you had gotten?

Can I tell you

just how smart S4 is? She will be a year old in a couple of weeks and she is a serious problem solver.  OK- there is a phone on my nightstand that S4 loves to play with.  It is not a phone for playing.  So, in order dissuade her from getting to the phone, I put a basket of laundry in front of the nightstand.  Yeah- don't you know that this baby climbed into the basket?? She climbed into the basket and got the phone.  She climbed into the basket all.by.herself!  Her mission was accomplished.  Pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Do you...

enter giveaways? Contests? Attend Twitter parties? I do! My latest entry is for Livie and Luca shoes from Life with My Littles.  Yes. Livie and Luca shoes.  Omgoodness lovelies, have you been to this website to gaze at their footwear? So gorgeous.  In order to get a hold of a little piece of shoedom, I am posting without shame in order to gain more entries.  While you're reading this, you may want to enter too. :P

Labor Day

It's Labor day, lovelies.  We are hanging out at the house, surrounded by boxes (an organizational project that hubs started a couple of days ago).  Lots of boxes and laughing children.  The weather is amazing today, so we'll go outside for a bit.
Today also happens to be my parents' anniversary. 37 years.  Yes.  That's a lifetime, good people! Thirty-seven.  Trente septe. I love the example they have put out for us- marriage is hard work, but with lots of prayer and perseverance, a couple can get through just about anything. Thank you mom and dad! Wishing you another 37 years of wedded bliss! <3
My oldest and my folks;