Of weddings and humidity

Over the weekend, we attended Russ's cousin's wedding. It was held on a farm in Platte City, Missouri. The weather was hot, muggy, and not exactly desirable, but the ceremony and reception were lovely and very creative. In fact the whole affair reminded me of a recent article in the NY Times about wedding trends. Apparently the new "thing" is to have homestyle weddings. Codi and Simon certainly made their day as fun and comfortable as can be. They had a pre-wedding candy buffet, wandering magician, a photo booth and a mini-carnival set up.

Codi was a beautiful bride, her dress was lovely and she seemed to be enjoying the whole day.

They even had a giant tire swing set up behind the altar. Everett was in heaven and even practiced his sharing. Those are his little feet poking out from the tire.

I think he may have enjoyed the breeze as he was swinging even more than the tire. I know I would have loved a little wind.

My sweet, happy boy. He was so well-behaved, until we tried to get him off the swing! Originally, I had him dressed in a sweet white oxford shirt. He looked like a perfect little Southern gentleman. However, after 2 minutes with the candy buffet, it was apparent that a costume change was necessary.

Yep, in the only good picture of Russ and I, Everett is literally showing his backside. Oh well. My mom, very sweetly sent me the lovely watermelon-colored frock to wear. It fit beautifully and made me feel like a princess. I have to say that my husband cleans up pretty nicely as well. He didn't even take off his tie!

Russ tried teaching Evie how to play with the beanbag toss, but Ev was more interested in using it as an incline board for climbing.Russ is such a wonderful father. I am truly blessed with how patient and loving he is, even in hot yucky weather.

Evie did enjoy the soft dart game though.

All in all, the wedding was about perfect for a very busy boy. He got to play outside and run around and eat candy and barbeque. Life is good.

A partial family picture. Missing are Max, Russ's grandfather, and Cindy, Kailynne's partner. Also missing was the information that my strap had slipped off my shoulder, so I look like a very pregnant floozy in all the family pictures. Great!

While Everett didn't crash until a little after 11, he did sleep in the next morning.

My sweet angel boy. I love him so very much.

Derby 2009 update

Russ is hoping and praying that Miss Bea holds off her arrival till after July 24th-which is the date of the Clay Center demolition derby. Last year he made it to the feature in this car and he is hoping for a repeat. Of course, this year, his schedule is considerably more full, so finding the time to work on the car has been difficult.

The other weekend, he did manage to do a little re-wiring of the ignition switch. Hopefully, he can figure out why the car will run and then quit.

As you might notice, he is significantly cleaner than last year--which shows exactly how precious his time is. To really work on a derby car, you have to get dirty. So thank you Russ, for putting us first! I know it is a big sacrifice, but we appreciate all the hard work you have put into the move and our new house.

Weekend Tomfoolery

Here is our little Bea at about 27 weeks and a couple of days. The weather has been completely wonderful, I think we may actually be enjoying Spring, albeit a little later than usual.

Mom and I were talking the other day about the feelings that certain flowers engender. For her, iris are the high-mark of Spring's floral abundance because of her grandfather's iris beds, which she remembers him carefully tending. For me, peonies are the fragrant, blousy reminder of my great-aunt Ruth who would take pails of them to the cemetery for Memorial day when I was little.

Russ did a little re-wiring underneath the house this past weekend. I came back outside to find Everett had joined his daddy and was being "very" helpful! I couldn't separate those two if I tried.

I even like the ants that come with peonies, as long as they stay outside. A simple trick is to just blow them onto the next bud after you have cut a stem.

Almost unbelievable, but here we are all together! We went to a friend's baby shower on Saturday and she snapped this picture. I love it--maybe because we have so few family photos.

Of course we took Everett to the park before the shower, we thought we would try to wear him out. Haha. At least he had a great time on the swings and slide, I don't think it affected his energy level one bit, however.

I still enjoy the swings, Russ snapped this picture, and even though Miss Bea is kinda hiding, I think she enjoyed the rocking motion.

We had a friend over for dinner on Sunday night and this arrangement helped distract from the boxes and moving chaos as well as the fact that I packed all three of my salt and pepper shakers!

She sits so low in comparison to Everett.

This is Evie's preferred method of swinging. He will sit if required, but he really likes to pretend he is flying.

This is another of Evie's favorite games, "wake-up, Daddy!"

Poor Russ just wanted a mini-siesta--he should have known his plans would be thwarted.

The scrape on his nose is finally, almost healed. I keep hoping it won't scar, but Evie and Russ don't seem to be worried at all. Boys.

Russ enjoying a few peaceful moments before the onslaught.

He looks so very thrilled to have his picture taken (for the hundredth time) doesn't he?

Both Russ and Everett insist on helping with clean-up when I bake. Russ even pouts a little if I don't leave enough batter in the bowl.

Everett is still perfecting his beater-batter retrieval system, and it is a messy process!

Another favorite game--"goodnight, sleep time" Everett has three favorite blankets, plus one he borrows from his sister's cradle. These blankets go everywhere so that he can pretend he is going to sleep, he also requires the use of a laundry basket to make his bed in. If only we could get him this excited about actually sleeping.

While he hasn't fallen or jumped in, fountains still make me a little wary. But he loves the water, so we always throw a few pennies in for luck.

Dreams to reality and realty

Here is our new house! The outside is pretty typical for a turn-of-last-century bungalow, I love the porch, and plan on painting the porch swing to match our bench. Everett loves the the new house (so far at least!)

This is the built in china cabinet in the formal dining room, The glass is leaded and really sparkles when the light hits it. The big window also has a long window seat, swoon!

Russ calls this room "Grand Central station, it is essentially a hallway with lots of closets and doors, Everett loved hiding in the tall closets.

This fireplace is in the reading parlor off the livingroom. I love the tiles.

This will be the kids room for starters, lots and lots of sunshine. I don't even mind the green paint. The oak floors are gorgeous and in excellent condition through the house.

One thing I noticed when trying to take pictures--it is a lot harder than it looks! This is the kitchen of course, I love the old cabinets.

The big picture window in the livingroom and one of the radiators. The parlor has built in bookcases on either side of the entrance.

The view from the guest bedroom to the landing upstairs.

This is the view of the backyard from the window at the top of the landing. It needs work, but has a lot of potential!

Looking up the stairs.

My studio! The bathroom with a clawfoot tub! Okay, I know that is a lot of exclamation points but I am really EXCITED. And here is Evie, proving that the new house will have lots and lots of fun places to hide.