Wedding Highlights Part 2

from where Jimmy Anderson was sitting......

My big girl walking down the aisle with mommy

Mommy still sporting a nice "stay at home mom" tan

Sweet baby Owen

Sweet baby Ethan

The King of the Castle

and his lovely Queen

Guess who will be next?

Wedding Highlights

from where I was sitting......

Mimi helping Eliza with her shoes

Big brother watching over sister

Daddy daughter love

Sweet, sweet, sweet

Gorgeous brown eyes on beautiful boys

Take my breath husband

Breaking it down

Dancing with sister

Out-ie

Congratulations Chad and Kourtney. May God continue to bless the two of you with a lifetime of love and happiness.

Missing Mama

I am missing my mother today. I am beat down and tired. Humble and exhausted. Eliza still isn't sleeping at night and I don't have the energy to get up with her anymore. Thankfully I have a husband that will. Usually when I get this low I just drop to my knees in prayer and God lifts me back up - so let's hope that's what His plan is today.

So.....I miss my mama. There are so many times in my life that I come to a stop and miss her more deeply than others. Today is one of those days. So while I don't have much to write about, I do want to remember that right now is hard.

We are leaving today to spend the weekend with Chris's family as we celebrate a wedding. I think weddings are such joyous times when two families officially become one. When cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents that you haven't seen in months, possibly years come to rejoice together that another phase of a family members life is taking off in a new direction. We gather around them to support them on their special day and to also let them know that we are there to support them for years to come. And while all this is going to be wonderful and I can't wait to see everyone, I am also dreading being in a hotel room with Eliza. Sad. I know this. I have no idea what the next two nights are going to be like with her but if the past week is any indication, there is going to be a lot of crying and very little sleeping. Which isn't setting too well with my soul right now.

Which brings me back to my mama. If she were still here I could call her today and cry and tell her I am worried about sleep deprivation and depression. That I need her to be my cheerleader right now. And she would. She would even show up and just be there with me. She would know how hard it is and she would hug me and tell me I am doing a great job. And she would wipe my tears and stay up all night with me.

So there ya go. This is hard. This mothering thing. This up all night thing. This no sleep for a week thing. This missing my mama thing.

And I want to remember the hard things as well as the easy things. Because let's just be honest, very little about mothering falls under the easy column.

WNC Fun

We returned today from a wonderful trip to Brevard. I love going home and this is where I always have a hard time keeping my eyes on the road. It is just before Old Fort Mountain when you come up over a hill and there you can see the Blue Ridge Mountains. And they are glorious!

It is my first glimpse of home and it takes my breath every time.

The boys hit golf balls in my grandmother's backyard while they waited for dinner.

We all needed a little down time after the drive.

After dinner we headed out to Aunt Jan's house to get settled and head out for a walk.

And this little boy (can't you just tell he has something really important that he is telling me?)

could just run and run and run and run. And that is also good for his mama. :-)

There were lots of cows, a few donkeys and a few goats. The cows were very curious about us. I don't think they had ever seen a stroller before.

This one's name is 139. Just ask Ethan.

The next day I spent most of my time on the couch again sick. So Aunt Jan had lots of things lined up for the boys to do, starting with cookies. They always make peanut butter cookies with her. I am not even sure how that got started but it is always peanut butter and they are always good. For dinner Monday night we grilled hot dogs over the fire and then roasted marshmallows.

The boys thought this was just awesome!

And they have told their daddy all about it today.

Not to be out done by her brothers.

This little was in the action too.

Beach 2010 Highlights

We just returned from our annual Bordman beach vacation after having a week full of good food, pool fun and wonderful family. It was particularly difficult this year to take photos of the children at the pool and beach this trip because they were constantly hopping from one to the other and I didn't want to leave my camera laying around while I chased them so all our pictures are from our outings away from the hotel.

Mini Golf at Cancun Lagoon

Owen cutting loose with some dance moves. Notice his left hand with the finger pointing going on.

My three favorite men

Heartbreakers

Dinner at Thorny's

We went to a Halloween store while we were down there and the boys picked out their costumes for this year. Owen is going to be Mario and Ethan is going to be Luigi (from Super Mario Brothers).

Eliza carried this one around but I had already purchased her a costume. She is going to be a strawberry. Of course, when I told Chris this his response was "isn't that a fruit and not a character?"

We went to Family Kingdom so the boys could ride some rides. There was a lot of talk about riding the roller coaster this year. I told them they could even though I suspected they wouldn't meet the height requirements. When we got there they watched it make one round on the track and then quickly changed their minds. Ethan said "actually, I don't think I will do it." Instead they decided they would ride this one. The Galleon. It used to be the Pirate Ship and it used to go upside down. This one doesn't, but it does go fairly high.

I think they were probably losing their stomachs at this point. After they got off they agreed they didn't want to ride it again. So we headed to rides that were more their speed.

The height requirements on these were greater than 36 inches and less than 48 inches. Ethan is right at 48 inches so next year he won't be able to ride these anymore. And I am not sure he will be ready for the bigger rides.

This roller coaster was more their speed.

Owen's first time on the log flume. And just as a wonderful father should, Chris rode it with him. When they got off he must have asked Ethan 10 times if he wanted to ride it with him. Ethan, of course, said no. Owen loved it!

And a few pictures of Eliza watching her brothers every move.

And just for kicks, I found these photos of the boys from 2007.

And 2008

Pretty cute that I have pictures of them through the years on the same rides.
We are home for a few days and then the children and I are hoping to head for the hills for a few days of WNC fun.