Of Sister Alexius and Socks

Tonight I was folding four loads of laundry all at once, and tossing socks into a giant heap to be dealt with last.

Seriously, I do not need variety in the socks I buy for my kids. I do not want two or three different styles in one package. Make them all white with grey heels and toes. Don't make some white with grey stripes on the top and some without. And for Pete's sake, don't toss two variations on the white with navy theme into the mix. I'll never make that mistake again.

Anyway, back to the point.

When I turned to tackle the mound of socks waiting to be paired up, I couldn't help but think about my great aunt, Sister Alexius.

Sister Alexius was my dad's aunt, and she was in a convent a couple hours away from the town I grew up in. A few times a year, she'd hop on the bus and come visit us.

Whenever Sister Alexius came she always wanted to help in some way, so my mom always had her pair and fold socks. So she would sit at the table with a giant laundry basket full to the top with socks (remember, there were eight kids in my family) and fold them for a couple of hours while she visited with my mom and us kids. It was a good way to keep her busy and out of the way at the same time.

That was the only time our socks were ever paired up and folded. Ever.

My mom would just pull all of the socks out of the dryer and toss them in that laundry basket, which we creatively referred to as the Sock Basket, in the back hall. When we needed socks we went to the basket and dug out two that matched.

This is further evidence that my mom is a genius. Think of all the time she saved!

Of course, we were always free to pair and fold our own socks, and we always did Dad's dress socks. He needed the help, since he's blue-black color blind. Otherwise, we had to wait for Sister Alexius to visit.

I wonder if she ever realized that her special job of pairing and folding socks was a job no one else in the house ever did?

No matter. The thought of it put a smile on my face tonight as I dealt with my own pile of socks.

And it made me vow to install a Sock Basket as soon as possible.

© Trippin' Mama 2012

Wordful Wednesday: Go Fish!

We braved four little pairs of hands swinging poles with hooks on the end to take the kids fishing at the fair. All I can say is thank heavens for those poor volunteers. They hardly knew what hit them by the time we were done!

Everyone had fun fishing.

We even caught a few, except for Sam, though he didn't really care.

We tried to get the kids to hold their catches for the big photo.

Alex made a go of it. (Isaac apparently was successful, though I didn't catch the photo.)

And Amelia refused to touch the fish at all.

That's my girl!

Play along with Wordful Wednesday at:

© Trippin' Mama 2011

The Family Photo Marathon

If you're looking for a recipe post, tune in tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a recap of today's adventures.

Today we had family pictures taken. The photo session went well, considering the subjects included three energetic two-year-olds, but today was a piece of cake compared to getting everything ready ahead of time.

I now understand why my mother only had photos of the whole family taken twice when we were kids. I think I was two the first time and eight the second time. She probably spent the intervening six years trying to find clothes that matched and fit everyone. We still talk about how my brother Paul wore red socks with his blue pants in the first family photo that included all eight of us kids.

We had our photos taken outside, so I put everyone in sweaters. Do you know how hard it is to find simple children's sweaters that are unadorned by poodles, ballet slippers, baseball gloves, cowboys and more? HARD! And coordinating clothes for six people was no easy task either. To top it all off, I was hemming jeans for the boys at 11 p.m. last night.

When we got up this morning it was clear that it was going to be a great day for pictures, but chilly. It was barely 50 degrees when we left the house. I wanted to make sure everyone was warm enough, so the boys all wore a pair of Amelia's old tights under their jeans. The ran around the house in their pink striped and heart-patterned tights shouting, "Ballerina! Ballerina!" as Jeff and I tried to get them dressed this morning. Don't worry, we made sure to pull their socks up high enough to cover up the girly tights.

I tried so hard to get everything ready in advance, but we still forgot Amelia's shoes and had to turn around to get them. She had pink shoes on, but we were all in browns and greens, and I wasn't about to repeat the red sock incident that haunted my mother.

Our photographers were great, the kids were fairly cooperative, and the scenery was glorious with the colors of fall. The kids chased each other around, throwing leaves and generally having a blast when we weren't coaxing them to sit still long enough for a couple shots.

Kurt and Laura were thrilled with the photos they got, so I can't wait to see them and share some with you. But now I'm headed for bed. I got up well before the crack of dawn this morning. It was painfully early, but on the plus side I did get to shower today!

Night all. 

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Fifteen Pounds of Apples a Day

Today was apple picking day. We headed out to a local orchard for some family fun and fresh apples.

All of the kids loved picking the apples. At first the boys wanted to pick apples up off the ground. Then they wanted to toss freshly-picked apples on the ground so they could pick another off the tree.

Once we told them to put the apples in the basket they did pretty well following directions, though they were a little rough. They chucked the apples like they were throwing a ball, so Jeff guarded our basket and served as designated catcher.

We also had a small issue with a certain redhead wanting to sample every apple he pulled off the tree.

More than half the apples I used to make pie this afternoon had already been through Sam's rigorous taste test. And he did a fine job. That pie was delicious!

Everyone enjoyed the fruits of our labors by sampling a fresh Golden Delicious apple.

Once we had our basket full of 15 pounds of apples, (which doesn't take long with four great helpers!), we headed home.

Amelia and I rolled up our sleeves and started with an apple pie. It was the first of several things I'll be making, and it was definitely worth the effort of chasing four kids through an apple orchard!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Wordful Wednesday: Flamingos and Chocolate Nachos

My sister Mary was looking for a place for us to eat out while we were visiting for Girls' Weekend. She had a choice of good steakhouses and nice Italian places, but wanted to try something new.

So she asked around for a recommendation.

One of her employees told her that we just had to try the Flamingo, and we had to get the chocolate nachos.

It was a ways out of town, but Marlene highly recommended it, and Mary was sold on the idea of chocolate nachos, so off we went down Montana's backroads. Mary hadn't asked any questions about the place, so we speculated it was probably a typical all-American restaurant with burgers, pasta chicken etc...

We did not expect this:

No, your eyes do not deceive you. That's a shack and an old school bus painted pink. Also known as the Flamingo Restaurant and Lounge.

Just to clarify, here's the restaurant:

And here's the lounge:

Ha! We laughed and laughed. It was definitely not what we were expecting, but it sure was a lot of fun.

You've got to admit, the lounge is pretty cool, really, though it was full of spiderwebs and hot, so we opted for the fresh-air seating instead. Doesn't this pink Quonset hut just scream atmosphere?

 I'd say the joke was on us, but the food was fantastic, and it definitely was all-American. And those chocolate nachos? So good that the only picture I got was after we'd eaten half of the basket.

These were seriously good. Warm, crunchy flour tortilla chips sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, drizzled with chocolate and served with vanilla ice cream for dipping. Yum!

In the end the Flamingo got a good laugh and thumbs up all the way around.

Play along with Wordful Wednesday at:

© Trippin' Mama 2010

The Perfect Storm

I'm have a great few days with my mom and my sisters while Jeff keeps the home fires burning.

My niece Elyse, Judy, Mary, Mom & me at the Flamingo. (That's a story for another post!)

But I can't say it's all been relaxing. Take, for example, today's scenic boat tour of the Gates of the Mountains on the Missouri. We had a little weather issue:

The pilot, Captain Kyle, did a great job of trying to minimize the wind damage to the boat and the danger to his passengers. I took the video right after all the wind started. It lasted about five minutes, and we did start to worry a little when the metal frame holding up the "roof" started to pull away from the wooden boat frame and the whole roof was pushed to one side of the boat.

 Captain Kyle said it was one of his "most interesting" tours ever. And he's been doing this for a long time.

If that doesn't call for a margarita, I don't know what does!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Getting Soaked in St. Louis

Yes, still more adventures from St. Louis. I told you you'd get the full scoop. It's just taking me a little time!

Sunday morning our early birds were awake at their usual time, which was 6:00 a.m. in St. Louis. So we fed the kids breakfast in the room and headed out at 8 a.m.

Unfortunately, there's very little open on a Sunday morning at 8 a.m. Fortunately, St. Louis has a great park, Forest Park, home of the St. Louis zoo. Since we were planning to go to the zoo Monday, we decided to explore the park instead. After all, it doesn't take much to make our campers happy. A playground with a few swings and slides will do.

We found a great playground. As my kids played on the slides I watched out of the corner of my eye as some other kids turned on the water fountain. The day was already getting hot and I knew we were headed for the water before we left. Luckily I had thrown a dry change of clothes in the van for everyone, just in case.

We started by getting a drink from the water fountains, which was as entertaining as it was messy. We had a few fights over "HIT DE BUTTON!" But within minutes they were getting soaked and laughing and loving every minute of it!

I just tried to keep myself and the camera dry!

After our fun in the water we had a picnic in the park before heading back to the hotel for naptime. All of the kids fell asleep in the car, which undoubtedly contributed to the less-than-stellar naptime and two boys escaping from their beds!

While the kids were "napping" Jeff joined my sister and her family for the Cubs vs. Cardinals baseball game. By the top of the 8th inning I was ready for a drink. The boys and Amelia had a blast running around the room and going in and out of the closets, but I got tired of trying to keep them out of trouble pretty fast! I couldn't really take them anywhere by myself, but we did OK, thanks to a few videos, some new-to-us toys and our color crayons.

Once Jeff got back we hit the hotel pool. I have no photos of that. To hold my camera would have been to endanger my children's lives. It was all the two of us could do to catch three boys (all wearing life jackets) who had no fear of jumping in the water. Once we got them to take turns, the job got a little easier.

We took the boys out of the pool so we could give them a bath before supper, and Amelia stayed to play a little longer with her cousins. Just about the time we got the boys out of their life jackets, they all made a break for the water. My brother-in-law Kyle was the only one on that end of the pool, and when he looked up and saw what was coming, a look of sheer panic crossed his face. He stretched his arms out as far as possible, but Jeff and I grabbed the boys before they could get back in.

I laughed out loud at Kyle's expression. I recognized that look of panic. I've had it off and on for three years, ever since we discovered we were expecting triplets!

After a bath, a LOT of pizza and time playing with their cousins, the boys went down to sleep without a peep. And they slept all night. I can't say the same for Jeff. Early in the morning I woke up to find he wasn't in the bed. I went out to the sitting area to find him curled up awkwardly on a four-foot sofa. He said he was too sore to sleep. That was no surprise, after he spent almost two hours lifting 26-pound boys plus their wet life jackets out of the pool over and over and over.

Just one more reason this was a trip, not a vacation. Fun, yes, but a lot of work, too!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Nothing Says Happy Easter Like A Sick Kid

It was a true family holiday here. We had family in from out of town, so of course one of the kids got sick. Thankfully it was only one.

Sam threw up once on Saturday and once on Sunday. Saturday that seemed to really make him feel a whole lot better, and the rest of the day was pretty good until he started to run a fever at bedtime. He had a rough night. He finally managed to get a couple hours of sleep snuggled in our bed, but he clearly just didn't feel well.

Today Sam's fever spiked to 103.3, but I was able to bring it down with a bath and some Tylenol. His fever broke about bedtime, but then he wanted to eat and play, so bedtime was a lo-o-ong time in coming.

Add a boil (poor Amelia) to our disease and it was a regular party around here! Throw in a little pestilence and we would have been celebrating in Biblical style.

Actually, it was a pretty good day since Sam didn't care who held him, as long as someone held him. And we had plenty of arms available. Thanks to good planning we ate Easter dinner while the boys were down for a nap, so we were able to eat the food while it was hot and stay at the table until we were finished. That's a real luxury for us. 

I have pictures of our Easter to share, but right now I have to catch some shut eye to make up for last night. Hopefully Sam will sleep well now that the fever seems to have ended.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, too, sans the plagues.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Welcome, Baby Rowan!

One week ago today, Jeff's sister Susie and her husband Andy welcomed their first child, Rowan.

Rowan weighed in at 8 lbs., 10 oz, and was 21 inches long.

Look at those sweet baby cheeks! I wish I was there to snuggle him up and smell his little head.

Susie says he's "size tiny," but we had to laugh. When Isaac was two months old, he weighed exactly 8 lbs. 10 oz. I'm sure Rowan seems tiny, but he's the perfect-sized baby and, like all babies, he'll grow up way too fast.

Congratulations Susie and Andy. This will be the greatest adventure of your lives.

Welcome to the family Rowan. We're so glad you're here. 

© Trippin' Mama 2010

The Test Cookie

The other day the WBH came home and said, "I talked about your grandma at work today." The grandma to which he refers is my Grandma W., my mom's mom. She was a great woman, a marvelous baker, and she loved to feed people more than anything.

Grandma's been gone for almost a decade now, so I was curious how it was that she came up in conversation.

Jeff went on to explain that someone had implemented an entire project without testing. They discovered after the fact that there were problems with computer access that prevented the right people from getting to the data they needed.

He told his colleagues that they should have heeded the wisdom of my Grandma: "Always make a test cookie."

I had to chuckle.

You see, my Grandma W. was a fantastic baker, and she always, always, ALWAYS made a test cookie. She would put one cookie on a sheet and bake it to see if any adjustments needed to be made before she made the whole batch. Did she need more flour? More butter? A hotter or cooler oven? No doubt this little experiment was one of the keys to her success in the kitchen.

Grandma was one smart lady.

It turns out that the test cookie is a pretty good philosophy for life, too.

While you can't always make a test cookie, you probably should whenever you can. Because it helps guarantee great results in the end.

And if worse comes to worse, the test cookie will tell you when it's time to scrap the batch and start over.

Uncle Paul and Aunt Staci's New Baby

Amelia got a dollhouse for Christmas.

It's proven to be a pretty good present. She plays with it quite a bit, and recently moved a herd of My Little Ponies into it. (And I think I've got problems keeping MY floors clean?!)

It came with this cute little doll family.

One of the first times we played with it she picked up the daddy doll and said, "Can this be Uncle Paul?"

Uncle Paul is my brother. Amelia's only met him once that she would remember--just this past summer. So it was a little random, but whatever.

"Sure that can be Uncle Paul."

Amelia held up the mommy doll. "And this is Aunt...Aunt...what's her name?"

"Aunt Staci," I supplied.

"And the boy is Max and the girl is Lainey," said Amelia.

Then she picked up the baby. "What's their baby's name?"

"Uncle Paul and Aunt Staci don't have a baby. They just have Max and Lainey," I explained.

"Oh. Well we don't need this baby then," Amelia said as she chucked the baby over her shoulder and across the room.

 

I retrieved the baby and we talked about pretending. Finally, Amelia decided that since this is "just pretend" it was OK for Uncle Paul and Aunt Staci to have a baby.

So after some debate we named the baby Timothy. ("What kind of name is Timothy?" Amelia asked before she agreed.)

Good grief, girl! There's literal and then there's literal.

Water Parks and Breakfast Casseroles

So what do water parks and breakfast casseroles have to do with each other? Not much, really, it's just that I had planned a completely different post full of pictures from our afternoon playing at the indoor water park with Grandma and Grandpa D. and Uncle Jacob.

But, I left the camera at the hotel, so that post will have to wait. At least the camera still works, unlike the cell phone I dropped in my apron pocket yesterday...and then washed. UGH.

So, in lieu of fun pictures of everyone splashing around, here's what's for brunch at my house tomorrow before we celebrate an early Christmas with the grands and Uncle Jacob. (Amelia, by the way, thinks celebrating more than once is the best idea EVER.)

This is my all-time favorite breakfast casserole. I love that the potato crowns never get mushy like bread sometimes can. And don't skip the mustard, even if you don't think you like mustard. Trust me, it's what puts this over the top. Here's the recipe:

Ham and Potato Strata
1/2 package potato crowns (think flat tater tots)
1 16-oz package frozen cut broccoli
1 cup chopped ham
8 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. ground mustard
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Grease a 13x9" baking dish. Arrange frozen broccoli evenly over bottom, and sprinkle evenly with ham.

Cover with a layer of potato crowns.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs, milk and mustard until smooth. Please don't skip the mustard, I beg you! It's what makes the dish, and I say that as someone who doesn't really like mustard. If you don't have ground mustard, you can substitute 1 tablespoon of prepared mustard. Pour egg mixture evenly over the potato mix in your baking dish.

Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Uncover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Perfect by itself! Add a little fresh fruit and coffee cake or muffins, and you've got a very nice brunch fit for celebrating the holidays with family and friends or just for treating yourself.

Tomorrow, pictures of the water bugs. In the meantime, enjoy!

How Old Are You?

When I was with my sisters and my mom last weekend we all took the Real Age Test (http://www.realage.com/), which determines, based on your lifestyle, what your "real" age is.

Note: I do not receive any compensation from www.realage.com, and I am not endorsing their results. We just did this because it was fun and informative. This disclaimer brought to you by the FTC.

What a youthful group!

I was relieved to be younger than my actual age, because I can't say I'm taking the very best care of myself these days. That, and one of the questions was about how much sleep you get a night and I know I'm falling waaaay short there.

We all came up younger than our years, in part thanks to good genes and no family history of cancer. And we all got suggestions back on what we can do to improve our health even more. Judy and I are both supposed to get dogs because we don't get enough aerobic activity. HA! I'd love a dog, but I don't need one more thing to take care of, discipline and potty train right now.

I suppose I could count a few minutes a day of chasing babies as aerobic exercise, but honestly I don't regularly engage in heart-pumping activity. Unless you count panicking when I find the boys climbing on something. (But that's another whole post.)

We spent a lot of the weekend talking about what we eat, where our food comes from, and debating the merits of organic, or at least, locally-raised foods. I think we all agreed that where the food comes from is probably less important than making sure you are eating lots of fruits and veggies and minimizing processed foods as much as possible.

I spend a lot of time thinking about what my kids eat, worrying if they are getting enough sleep, and making sure they take their vitamins to stay healthy. But what about me? Even though I'm pretty healthy, I don't take care of myself as well as I take care of my family. And there's always room for improvement

So, I came home determined to take little steps to even better health. This week I am making sure to take my multivitamin every day, along with a little extra vitamin C (to kick this cold) and some extra calcium, which I know I don't get enough of. It's a tiny commitment compared to the vitamin and mineral regimen I followed when I was pregnant with the triplets.

How about you? What small change will you make for a healthier you?

Amelia's New Favorite

While visiting Aunt Susie and Uncle Andy, Amelia discovered a new food that she LOVED.

Now, if you know Amelia, you know that food is not her thing. She'll even take a bite or two of a treat and walk away without finishing it.

But this, this was a big hit.

Cereal. With chocolate.

Amelia: The new poster child for Special K's chocolatey delight.

Courtesy of Aunt Susie, Amelia fell for Special K's Chocolatey Delight.

Left to her own devices, Amelia would have eaten only the chocolate chunks (of course), but with some persuasion, she ate the flakes, too, and found she liked them.

Up until this point we've avoided chocolatey cereals in our house, but I may have to give in on this one once in a while.

At least it isn't Cocoa Puffs.

Off to Visit Aunt Susie & Uncle Andy

Amelia and Jeff left this afternoon for a visit with Aunt Susie and Uncle Andy in Denver.

Amelia is ready to go!

While this won't be the first time Amelia has flown, it will be the first time that's she's old enough to realize what's going on.


So far, she's been very excited about it, and couldn't get out of here fast enough after she woke up from her nap. I hope that excitement doesn't turn into a major freak out.

I armed Jeff with a bag full of treats and some new toys for the trip, along with a million pieces of advice that he didn't need.

"Be sure she uses the potty before you get on the plane."

"Don't let her touch anything in the airplane bathroom."

"Gum makes a good bribe. Or calling Aunt Susie to tell her you are getting on the plane. Or taking a picture to show Mom when she gets home."

"Make sure she still has rules. She needs to try all the foods on her plate and eat all her vegetables."

"There's sunscreen and hand sanitizer in your backpack."

"Take lots of pictures."

I know, I know. Give it a rest! It's not like he's new at this dad gig or didn't handle the whole crew by himself when I went to my brother's wedding in California when the boys were just 7 months old.

Fortunately, Jeff handled my rapid-fire "help" with his usual grace and good humor. It's just one of the things that has earned him the title of WBH (World's Best Husband).

Amelia offered me her trademark advice, "Bye, Mom. Don't bite the brothers."

So now they are off and the boys and I will be hanging out together for the next five days. Since I only have to feed myself, I am planning to cook some things for the freezer and see if I can get Amelia's closet turned over from summer to fall. (That will certainly guarantee the summer weather will last an extra couple weeks.)

And maybe, just maybe, I will be able to achieve the state of Laundry Nirvana while they are gone.

I know, you're on the edge of your seat over that one. Stay tuned.

It's All Relative

We have been fortunate to be able to make a couple stops during this vacation to see even more family, most of whom haven't met the boys before. There will be more of that tomorrow at Grandma D.'s birthday party, too, as Jeff and I both come from large families.

So far, three of my brothers and their wives and a few of their kids had a chance to greet Sam, Isaac and Alex in person. And, we finally got to meet Clare and Isabel, Amy and Dave's twin baby girls, who were born September 1. Having all five babies together was a real stitch!

Here are a few pics of the family, and many more to come!

Isaac and Uncle Dave check things out.

Aunt Sheryl and Sam

Aunt Teresa and Alex

Uncle Paul and Isaac

(For those of you who know Uncle Paul, this photo worries me, too. And for the rest of you, don't worry. No babies were harmed in the taking of this picture. The cold can was just convenient for soothing teething gums.)

Cousin Matt and Sam show off their red hair.

Amelia and her cousin Taylor

Babies! Clockwise from top: Isaac, Clare, Isabel, Sam and Alex.

Fifteen Years Together

Fifteen years ago today, Jeff and I got married.

Christy and Jeff ~ June 25, 1994

We were young.

(Would you believe I was only 13? No? Well, it was worth a shot.)

We were in love.

And life was very, very good.

Little did we know what God in store for us when we joined hands and said, "I do" on that day.

OK, we're married. So now what?

Since then we've lived abroad, each earned an advanced degree, owned two homes, built careers, traveled a lot, had a family, and dealt with both good times and bad. Fortunately, the good has far outweighed the bad.

If you ask anyone who came to our wedding and reception, they will tell you what they most remember is the "Bag Dance."

In fact, a friend of mine from college sent me an email just the other day saying the she thought of that and laughed at the memory. (Hi, Donna!)

"What," you ask, "is the Bag Dance?"

Well, it looks like this:

This is one of my favorite pictures from my wedding day!

My brother-in-law Kyle pulled this one on me. He'd only been married into our family for a short time, and since he wasn't a blood relation, I TRUSTED HIM. That was the last time I made that mistake!

WARNING: Do NOT try this on a bride or groom who do not have a sense of humor. You will not have fond memories of the day that make everyone laugh. And I do not want to be responsible for the ensuing umpteen years of, "Remember that awful joke..." that you will be subjected to.

So, back to the dance. Kyle had the wedding party all come to the dance floor. We were all given brown paper bags, and the rules of the game were that we were to put the bags on our heads and dance around until we ran into another person. Then we could take our bags off and sit down.

I thought it sounded like fun! I'm sure the champagne may have had something to do with my enthusiasm.

The music started and we all did as instructed. Except everyone else had been briefed beforehand to remove their bags and walk off the dance floor, leaving me to groove on my own.

Which I did.

And did.

And did.

The whole while I was under that bag yelling, "Where is everyone?"

I couldn't hear a thing over all the screaming and clapping from all our guests. I thought that was just to throw off the dancers.

Finally, I figured that if anyone could cheat, it was the bride, so I took my bag off and realized everyone was screaming with laughter.

Check out everyone's faces. We are all howling with laughter!

I love that everyone who was there had a great time and that Jeff and I are still married and laughing about this 15 years later.

So many things have changed in 15 years. Dreams have been realized, priorities have changed, waistlines, hairlines, and hometowns have shifted. But so many things haven't changed.

We are still young.

We are still in love.

And life is still very, very good.

Alex, Amelia, Isaac and Sam with Mom ~ June 2008

Aunt Susie

Take three seven-month-old boys, one nearly three-year-old girl, throw in an enthusiastic aunt, and you've got a recipe for FUN!

Amelia has already informed me that Aunt Susie is her "best fwend." Last night they had a Cheeto party. (It involves having a picnic of Cheetos in the basement playroom. Susie was happy to join in!)

Today they played on the swings, chased bubbles and dug in the sandbox.

Yay! Someone new to give pushes on the swing!

Tonight Amelia wanted Aunt Susie to get IN the tub with her to play. She settled for having Susie play with her from outside the tub, but only after a few tears.

In addition to being Amelia's "best fwend," Aunt Susie is already an expert at shoveling food as fast as possible into three boys' mouths. She's enjoying all of the crawling, giggling and flirting the boys are doing now. It's quite a change from when she was here in December and the boys were just two months old!

Aunt Susie feeds the boys their lunch.

Tomorrow Susie is running a half marathon. It's a good thing someone so in shape is here to lend a hand!

Wedding Pics

It's getting late, but I promised to share photos and video of the flower arranging session for my brother's wedding this past weekend.

Here's the scoop. Karen, the beautiful bride, is great at arranging flowers and had planned to make the centerpieces for the reception herself. It was a small wedding, so they only needed 11 arrangements, but time started to run short.

Instead of freaking out and staying up all hours, Karen, God love her, did what all brides should do -- let go! She recruited all of the women at the barbecue/rehearsal supper to arrange flowers.

Judy, Karen, Mary, Elena and Cathy tackle the flowers.

But first, how about a little tequila to get everyone loosened up...

Bottoms up!

That may have worked a little too well! I don't think florists typically behave like this when doing wedding arrangements, or any other arrangements for that matter.

The flowers turned out beautiful. (Really, they did!) And while the bride and groom had a wonderful wedding, I suspect it's the making of the centerpieces that we'll all remember for a long, long time!

Karen and Dan

Congratulations, Karen and Dan. We wish you a lifetime of happiness, and I am so glad I could be there to share your special day...and your tequila!

The Shoes Redux

My shoes and I returned from California late last night. I'll do a post later with pictures, but for now, here are some of my favorite moments, in no particular order:

1. Catching up with two of my sisters on the flight out.

2. Seeing the look on my brother's face when he figured out I wasn't Mary (my sister) and realized I had left the triplets behind to make the trip.

3. His bride, Karen, greeting me and then coming back an hour later to say, "Wait a minute. You weren't supposed to be here!"

4. Being recruited, along with all the other women at the rehearsal dinner, to arrange flowers for the centerpieces for the reception. No experience required. Tequila shot beforehand, mandatory. (The flowers came out surprisingly well!)

5. Watching my brother's oldest son grin from ear to ear during the entire wedding.

6. Breakfast with my mom & sisters.

7. Margaritas at lunch Saturday.

8. Getting my nails done.

9. Sitting in the California sunshine talking with my family.

10. Wearing "big girl" clothes and those killer heels.

11. Eating my meals while they were hot, and without interruption.

12. My brother's comments at the wedding about the role model for marriage and family life that my parents have provided for all of us.

13. Showing off pictures of my kids!

14. Giving my mom her Mother's Day card in person.

15. Watching my brother surprise his bride by singing to her during the wedding.

16. Catching up with my niece and nephews whom I rarely get to see.

17. The opportunity to sleep all night, though I woke up anyway!

18. Coming home to all my children peacefully sleeping while my husband waited up for me.

Photos and video of the flower arranging session to come. You won't want to miss this. Trust me!