this will be it...

so who's sick of pictures of my brother's wedding?and by "my brother's wedding" i of course mean "my kids at my brother's wedding in their awesome hats, ties and princess dress." but how can i not share with you this picture: and the one of my boys (minus the boy who is digging through my purse for jelly beans... or throwing a temper tantrum...) but anyhow, this will be it... for now.

and i'll leave you with a picture of miss maureen... a very dear friend from my hometown who my daughter (and bennett too!) loves to pieces. she is a wonderful lady with 3 great kids my sister and i would babysit. her sons hated me because i was mean and i wouldn't put up with any of their lip (they were friends with chad) and i loved babysitting for them because they always had super yummy ice cream (from the schwan's truck!) and they paid very good. like i'm talking $3 an hour! and not to date myself or anything, but it was a long time ago and that was very generous.

maureen is also a faithful blog reader and she deserves a shout out. we love you maureen!

but then ...

...there were jelly beans

uncooperative

i had high hopes that this little boy would keep his hat on for most of the evening... at least the important part, anyway.
like, the "pictures with the groom" part.
not so lucky.

little bro

when did this stinky little boy, who used to torment me and embarrass me in front of my friends,
who called calls me fatso and eavesdropped on my phone conversations and tried to drown my kitty,

who slept with mom's bra as a little boy because it was "soft," who farted at the dinner table and constantly forgot to give me phone messages,

(example:
me: "chad, did anyone call?"
chad: "uhhhh... yeah, i think so."
me: "who?"
chad: "i don't really remember."
*next day*
me: "what is this?" finding a note saying: "4-532" on the kitchen counter.
chad: "umm... oh yeah, someone called you."
me: "WHO?!?"
chad: "can't remember. that's their phone number."
me: "its missing some numbers!"
chad: "oh."
me: "well, was it a guy or a girl?"
chad: "uh, i don't remember."
me: "chad! i'm going to kill you!"
chad: "shut up, fatso!") chad...

who told his homecoming date to "git!" on out of our house after pictures and used to be obsessed with pez, the three stooges, bart simpson and elisabeth shue, who used to let us dress him up as a girl, and would eat handfuls of spinach under the delusion it would actually give him enough strength to break through his sisters' bedroom door (thank you popeye),

who told us what our birthday presents were before we opened them and constantly fought with me over who would ride shotgun...

when did stinky little chad...

grow up to such a fine looking gentleman?
when did he become so head over heels and lovestruck at the sight of his beautiful bride?when did he find such an amazing girl to marry,
who will actually put up with him,

even during football season...sarah, he may be your husband now, but he'll always be my annoying, stinky, pesky little brother.

i love you, chad. and sarah. congratulations on happily ever after.

home sweet home...

... is somewhere around here.

under piles of laundry and shoes and toys and candy wrappers and miscellaneous who-knows-whats we have accumulated from living out of our van for the last 2 1/2 weeks.

so while i get unburied over here, all the stories and pictures of my brother's wedding are going to have to wait another day.

yeah, sorry to leave you all on the edge of your seats... i know you are just dying to see more pictures of my kids.

we sure miss daddy

only ONE more day until we see daddy again!

and we all miss him.

(especially me at 1 am and then like 3 am when that baby of his is screaming his inconsolable head off and then again at 5:30 am when 3 year-old fingers tap my arm and a sweet little voice says, "look, mommy, there's some light outside. we can get up now." ok, don't speak to me or ever touch me again while i'm sleeping. i love you but i want to be unconscious for at least 4 more minutes.)

not that we haven't had a ton of fun at grammy and poppas...

its really great to be here.

fun memories, visiting with great friends, crafts, painting, planting flowers...

(wait a minute... who gave the holy terror the sharp gardening tool?)
and then, the other night, we had our minor serious accident.

bennett fell off the stool and sliced his chin open pretty good.

its always horrible to see your child in pain and listen to him sob.

and its especially annoying when the "other" child decides he absolutely will not share you with the child who actually needs attention.

because when i am holding and loving on anyone else at all, it must mean mason's world is about to end.

notice in this picture how bennett has calmed down and is patiently waiting for the bleeding to stop and the first aid to commence.

all the while mason is screaming his head off. my mom, rendered useless because mason wants no one else in the entire world (except for daddy who is in another state) and clings to me and cries, might as well take a picture so i can prove i'm not lying.

seriously, child.

also notice ella. being the caring compassionate big sister she is, she ran back and forth from the craft room for new creations to soothe bennett.

i mean, who wouldn't feel better after seeing a piece of rolled paper with green lace taped to it?

the cut was a bit frightening to look at. but apart from loss of consciousness or portruding bone, there was no way this child was going back to the same notorious ER that charged us 14 HUNDRED dollars to retrieve a raisin carefully placed in his nostril.

stitches would involve antiseptic, needles, shots, threadish type stuff, bandages... can you even imagine how much that would cost? we wouldn't be able to eat for the rest of the year once we got that bill.

wow. somebody outta do something about health care in this country.

ahem.

(and of course i don't really mean that...)

so anyhow, nothing accessorizes a cool easter outfit like a spiderman band aid.

wardrobe

remember back last week when i was complaining on my blog?
oh what, i need to be more specific?

well, my brother is getting married in 3 days and i had high hopes of having the most adorable, carefully coordinated children on the planet.

it was bordering on becoming an obsession.

so then i complained mentioned about how i found these great outfits for the boys and a beautiful dress for ella but they didn't really blend with each other. (black and white polka dots vs. blue and khaki)

so, let me just tell you about one of the most amazing friends i have.

good ol' erin sends me this email (i would say totally unsolicited but she did read my blog so i guess that isn't entirely true) offering to let me borrow this absolutely beautiful dress for ella.seriously, who wouldn't feel like a princess in this? (or a ballerina, or a... uh... a whatever it is she's doing...) and at first i felt really bad at the notion of borrowing a dress from someone else, who still has a younger daughter that will wear this someday. and its beautiful and fancy and my 5 year old just might have ketchup and for sure candy at the wedding and what if it gets dirty...

and erin was super gracious and assures me she really isn't worried and emphasized dresses are to be worn and enjoyed and it doesn't matter if anything happens to it.and then i'm thinking, now i'll have to get new shoes and a sweater cause the black ones i have for her don't go with brown and now i'll have to figure out something beside the black headband i had planned for her hair...

but the dress is gorgeous and worth a little more stressful shopping.

so i go pick it up...

and its hanging complete with sweater, shoes, and hair clip.

she went above and beyond.

i want to be a friend like that... thoughtful, selfless, and generous. thanks, erin.

and if you haven't noticed, i totally love my kids. and these particular clothes. i mean, how can i pick just one picture today?

and lucky for you, they are wearing them again for the wedding so there will be even more pictures.

i know, i know... you can hardly wait.

yep, that's mason getting jelly beans so he'll sit still and smile and not yank his hat off his head.

works like a charm...

picture bribery

what do you mean, there are no more jelly beans?