Lora and Patrick's Wedding

One of my cousins tied the knot this month. She and her new husband held their wedding and reception at the Antique Auto Museum, Hershey Pa. I will admit I was a little leery about the location {I was never there before}. However, it was a lovely place to hold the wedding.

The ceremony was held in front of this tree and large picture window. I did not get clear photos during the ceremony, but the girls posed for me afterwards.

And a family laugh....

And one with all of us on the photo....

My aunt Amy and Woody were up from Delaware for the wedding.

While the wedding party took pictures, the guests enjoyed the museum attractions, hors d'oeuvres, and drinks. And look what was on display in the museum while we were there.....It's Herbie the Love Bug!

I would drive this station wagon....

Joe thinks this would be perfect for our family....

I'd go cruising in this beauty....makes me want to go to a drive in theater.

And here is the reception area....what a cool backdrop for our party!

Alexis cutting some moves on the dance floor...

For the dollar dance, Mikayla wanted to dance with Lora....

Congratulations Lora and Patrick...we are blessed to share your memorable day with you both!

Kids Christmas Show

The company that Joe works for has a program for the children at the local Scottish Rite Cathedral. The children enjoy a magician, Santa, and train displays.
It was full in the display area, but the girls waited patiently and got to see all the displays. This was part of a carnival display.

And the girls had to open their goody bags....

another stuffed animal......

Samantha and Casey were at their mother's for this weekend. Casey wanted to be picked up to join us, but Sam was feeling too old for the event. {Oh, we are so thrilled that she's the great 13!}

We missed the photo op with Santa....so we sat in his seat and took pictures of the girls.

Preschool trip to Sheerlund Forest

Before we get into the Christmas parties and photos, I wanted to share some activities we have been doing this month.

Alexis' preschool class went to pick out a Christmas tree. It was a cold day up on the hill! But, at least it didn't rain. My bundled up little angel...
look at those eyes {of course they are not looking at the camera}....

After the tree was on the wagon, Alexis was "helping" to bring the tree back....we couldn't have done it with out her.

The guys should the kids how they shake the tree, drill the center hole in the bottom, and wrap it up for traveling. The kids were curious and it kept their attention. She looks so stylish and cool in this photo.

And then of course they enjoyed hot choc. and cookies. Alexis was very upset that she left her cookie to go to the bathroom and one of the other girls accidentally finished Alexis' cookie. Alexis was so funny, she went over to the girl and said "you ate my cookie", but she wasn't mean or yelling. Guess you had to be there, lol.

Random Thoughts

I'm in a mood tonight....I feel like screaming and venting! I thought I'd try a more positive approach, so I'll just list some random thoughts.

* I really, really, really dislike cold weather...it was really cold today
* I wish it didn't get dark at 4pm already!
* I'm frustrated that our older girls will not take their studies more seriously {what's so hard about turning in homework and studying for tests?}
* I frustrated that I have way too many commitments and I feel like I'm failing by not getting them all done
* I'm so worn out and tired of fighting with Joe
* I want to find a solution that makes our relationship stronger {what is going to work for us}
* I'm tired of struggling with money {and we are more blessed than so many others}
* I'd love to be a stay at home mother/wife
* I have so many ideas for things to do around the house, but I'm out of energy by the end of the day and they just keep going on my to do list
* I really, really need to declutter my home and get rid of things we do not need
* I love eating Chili when it's cold outside
* These girls can brighten my day {everyday}...proud to be their mother * I'm not ready for Christmas....not with gifts, not mentally, just not ready
* I need to focus on the good in all situations

feeling a little better now....

{Belated} Happy Thanksgiving AND Happy Birthday Mikayla

This little princess celebrated her 7th birthday on Thanksgiving this year. She is probably the only child who was excited for Thanksgiving day..HaHa!
She is an amazing little lady and I just love spending time with her, she truly is special, smart, caring, and fun!
Some current "stats"...
* showing the first grade class how to ace all the tests {she really is a teachers pet...that's OK at this age}
* loves to play "house" with Casey and Alexis
* loves to spin around in dresses...the puffier the better
* looking forward to learning how to sew...soon we'll be working on the Christmas dresses
* loves her new DSi {not just a DS...long story}...I just hope she doesn't figure out how to access the Internet
* loves to play games and spend time with all of her family
* looks like a redneck with all her missing teeth right now
* such a beautiful person...lucky to have her for a daughter!

Happy 7th Birthday Mikayla!

Playing with the sun in photos....

Over this past summer I tried to make more efforts to take photos and really try to get some unique shots. One of the techniques I admire in other photographers is the "shine" of the sun coming into the photo. I like the shining circle you can catch on the shot. I've tried to be more aware of this and take some photos that grab that shine.
Here Alexis and my mom enjoy a game of bean bags.
And a closer view of my baby...what a beautiful smile. She is so full of joy! Her hair is still pretty crazy....Love her so much!

And a fun shot of sisters. I had them posing for me at a local park. This is completely fake...I prompted them to have those looks, but it's so fun!

Gobble Gobble Day

Today was "Gobble Gobble Day" for Alexis' preschool class. My goal was to finish our turkey shirts for Thanksgiving Day, but this put the due date a little earlier. So last night I finished up our shirts.
Here's our turkey, um I mean model, ....

For Alexis I made a barrette....

More October Updates

This should be the last of my belated October updates...{they didn't seem to end}

We made treat bags for Mikayla's first grade class and Alexis' preschool buddies. I seen the moon and ribbon idea online somewhere {sorry I can't give the credit, I don't remember where I seen it}. They were pretty simple to create in large quantities.
Alexis' first Halloween parade...

The class group shot....this was hard to get a good shot...there were a lot of parents in attendance that day! We just love to support our little babies! Aren't they all cute!

The view to our shop is just magical this time of year. I went to pick up Alexis at preschool one day and on the way back I just had to stop and try to save the view. It's so hard to capture the view, it looks so much better in person.

We were actually crazy enough to go camping on the last week of October {Yes, it was very cold...but it didn't rain}. My aunt and uncle joined us for the first time since they just got their RV this year. "Can I check your heartbeat?" Ha Ha

Jesse bought pumpkins for his daughter and our two little ones to carve. Mikayla was into cleaning out her pumpkin....

So much so that she was going at it two hands at a time, lol....

Alexis, however, wanted NOTHING to do with touching the cold, slimy insides! She was good at supervising.

On the sideline at a soccer game...Is it me or does this shot make her nose look huge?

And our little ham....

Pumpkin Festival

More belated October events....
One of our family members celebrates her birthday at the beginning of October and this year she wanted a costume party. I had to work so Joe took all four of our girls to celebrate is spooktacular style!
Our church hosts an annual Pumpkin Festival. Joe and I help with some of the carnival games. Here is Alexis "practicing" at the soda pitch stand.

Then she got tired of the "practicing" so she moved on to the sound effect throwing {notice the lips, lol}....

and placing in on the soda bottle {note the stack of rings, lol}.

Design Dollies recently posted challenges....I actually did all three parts {sketch, hearts, and green, white, silver colors} but didn't complete in time to post for the challenge.