Gettin' Hitched!

It seems as if there's either a ton of stuff happening, or nothing at all. October has proved to be a month of many happenings, but for now, I'd like to share one special one...

This is my little brother Jake:



Isn't he a handsome one?

Recently, I read his facebook page that had a note to his lady that said "I was thinking if you don't have any plans this weekend, we should totally get married. Yes?" and her reply was "I think my schedule is clear. Let's get hitched!" So...On October 17th, he made this lovely lady a Mrs:



Isn't she gorgeous? (BTW, the wedding was planned...just want to make that clear, for those of you who are delusional and think you could pull a wedding off like this in a weekend)











(These awesome photos were from their wedding photographers and my photographer idols, Chris and Jen Stewart of www.JenStewartPhotography.com)

It was an honor for me to be asked to be a bridesmaid and though I cannot speak for Patrick, I'm sure he was honored to be asked as a groomsmen.



And Ethan learned what a ring bearer was. He says when asked what a ring bearer is: "I bring the ring to Uncle Jake and then he puts the ring on Aunt Sarah's finger." He was a handsome son of a gun:



The day was absolutely amazing! And the rain didn't even bring it down. It was such a fun filled relaxing day/night. I don't know if anyone was actually stressed out about the day, but if there was, it didn't show. Everything ran smoothly and seemed just perfect.

One of the highlights of the evening (especially if you ask Malia) was the photo booth. I guess it's a new trend for I have seen these types of pictures around a lot lately, but this was the first that I actually got to experience the process. It's an actual Photobooth like the kind you would see at an amusement park that spits out 4 photos of you and whoever is in it with you... What a great souvenir, and trust me, I have a lot of them (most of them containing a certain 8 year old). These are just a few, when Jake and Sarah get the CD, I'll probably dedicate an entire post to the memory of the "Photobooth". Picture of a picture (I need a new scanner), kind of cruddy, but you get the point.









Since it was a school night and I inherited an extra child for the night (what's another kid anyway?), we headed out a little early, but not before watching Ethan break dance on the dance floor and twirl his cousin Rylie in a manly manner. All the kids enjoyed the dance floor which was shared by some crazy guy dancing disgustingly with my dad's girlfriend and other various women. I ran into him in the elevator before we left...he was gay...Ha!

The rehearsal and luncheon happened the day before. I was able to send the two older girls off to their soccer games with friends who were willing to keep them until late in the afternoon. The wedding was at the Citizen Hotel in downtown Sacramento. It's a very 1940ish style hotel with political type artwork adorning the place. Perfect for both Jake and Sarah's style. I really fell in love with the lobby. It had a study feel. Books all around and dim lights. Rich red and gold colors. Calming and soothing really.







Rehearsal lasted less than an hour and the pastor did a fine job of keeping everybody entertained with his witty remarks as he did the day of the wedding also. A big thank you to my sister in law Kelli, who watched Carly while Patrick, Ethan, and I rehearsed our parts, but even a BIGGER thank you for her watching all four kids and getting them dressed AND watched them during the ceremony on the actual wedding day. I think that act alone has confirmed her feelings about having just one child and being ok with it :-)



After rehearsal, we headed over to the Embassy Suites where a special luncheon was provided. The food was amazing:





the company was good, and the bridesmaids and groomsmen presents were off the hook! (did I just write that?)

The ladies got awesome bracelets and scarves from Sarah and though I'm not a person who wears jewelry, I LOVE my bracelet! The scarf is cute too :-)



I hadn't seen Jake for quite some time before the wedding...possibly because he was busy painting the children of all the groomsmen and other various paintings as his "thank you" to the men in his line. Just check out this kid's talent...absolutely AMAZING!

















Although the gift was actually for Patrick, I benefited as well. Jake's quote to me "Sorry I made your kids look like vampires." Apparently he hasn't read my blog, because if he did, he would know that I LOVE vampires...

RAYA:



This is the picture he used as a reference:



MALIA:



And the picture for reference:



ETHAN:



Reference:



and CARLY:



Reference:



Ethan couldn't have been any happier when he opened up a rad Star Wars t-shirt and BLUE light saber. That definitely made being a ring bearer even more awesome!



The weekend was great. I'm so excited to have another amazing sister. The only problem is...how to differentiate between Sarah, my biological sister, and Sarah, my new sister...I guess what's been working with the kids is calling her "The New Aunt Sarah"! Welcome to the family Sarah...I'm sure it won't be too long, before you look like this:

(No, I am not implying that she is already pregnant and this was a shotgun wedding. 1. Jake would be an awesome dad, I've seen how he is with my kids and 2. Sarah has mentioned to me that she would welcome children real soon. So people, let's clear that rumor to be right up now. Thanks!

Apple Milk?

Our family ventured out to Apple Hill yesterday. As to be expected it was crowded. It was probably the most crowded that we've ever seen. So much so, that we hit a few farms and went home. The kids enjoyed our short adventure. We...

found a small pumpkin patch:







and even though our sisters could, no matter how hard we tried, we just couldn't smile normally:









We ran through a hay maze:





And played with Daddy:





We saw farm animals in love:



And weeds flowers on the nature trail:



We played on old tractors:



And for whatever reason, decided to dance:





We found cool places to stop for photos:



And wondered what possibly could have happened for a sign like this to be posted:



Even though we didn't get our faces painted or ride the ponies, we had a blast! And lucky for us, we ate apple donuts and we got apple pie and apple cider to enjoy the next day. On the way home, we discussed everything apple including apple milk. We also watched Scooby Doo:



And drew until we got carsick:





And though the days events were exciting...some of us didn't quite make it home awake:


(Patrick wouldn't let me post the picture of him sleeping while driving. Somehow he thinks it would be incriminating...)

Just A Tad Bit Selective

Malia is just a tad bit selective when it comes to a lot of things in her life. I've been noticing more and more just how selective she is. The following is a list of interesting facts about my second child Malia:

1. Won't drink soda and most juices. Milk and ice water are her preferred drink.

2. Doesn't like to wear jeans but has to tolerate them to make mom happy.

3. Doesn't like to be kissed. She says it's wet and gross (this could be a good thing come the teenage years).

4. Will not drink after anyone...not even me, her mom.

5. Loves to stay up late and hates to wake up early. The girl could sleep in til' noon if I let her.

6. Has a high pain tolerance...or at least she doesn't vocalize her pain. She rarely complains about anything...

7. Likes to clean her room (most of the time).

8. Wants to be a Chef when she grows up...maybe it's because mom doesn't cook hardly ever.

9. Is the loudest kid in the house. Always making some kind of noise, whether it be singing, screaming, or just random noises, I'm always telling her to be quiet.

10. She is very particular about her socks. They have to fit a certain way on her for her to wear them.

As you can see, Malia is not your average 8 year old. She can be difficult to please sometimes, but I am grateful she's mine...

Stylin'

Yes I do let my child leave the house looking like this:



Would you?

Kid Quote of the Week!

Even though I record a ton of kids quotes in anticipation of posting them on the "Kid Quote of the week" section of my blog, I am not very prompt in changing them. Because this blog serves as a sort of journal that will someday be printed into an awesome book for my posterity to read, I am now officially recording the last quote so I can change it to a new one"

While leaving for the evening to view an outdoor movie..

Ethan: "I'm gonna put my hat on so I don't get a moon burn."

This kid says the funniest things! Where does he come up with this stuff?!?!

A Kitchen Sink Post

TYE DYE!

Yesterday I went and visited my Aunt Patty who a few months ago came over and made Tye Dye shirts with the kids. She wasn't able to finish them at that time and then got real sick (ended up in the hospital!). The kids and I really kind of forgot about them, until yesterday when she brought them out while I was visiting. I took them home and we finished applying the appliques. The kids had a lot of fun and all of them are wearing their tye dye shirts today.



HOUSE WARMING!

I really have amazing friends. I love and appreciate them and their friendship. So, I have this really crafty friend. She's amazing and I just wish we lived closer so I could craft with her. I got this random FedEx package the other day that included a nice little house warming gift from her and her husband. I guess she's been reading my facebook status' about all the cooking I've been doing (you know I hate it and try to get out of it whenever possible), because she made this awesome recipe tile:



It came complete with a stand, dry erase markers, soap, and hand towels. My kids keep asking me when I'm going to start using it. Just one question, if I put what we are going to have down on the tile, does it mean I actually have to stick with it instead of heading over to Little Ceasers??? Thanks Maris! You are so awesome!


RING BEARER:

My little Ethan isn't quite so little. He's growing up way to fast and you can see what I mean by these pictures of him:





He's going to be the ring bearer in my brother Jake's wedding. Since Patrick is a groomsmen and I am a bridesmaid and he is the ring bearer, you can only imagine how much money this wedding is costing us. I was able to get this suit mostly second hand which is amazing. I took these photos to send to the bride to make sure it's what she wanted. And those glasses, well, they are genuine Ray Bans, but that's not the awesome part...The awesome part was that they were free! How's that for radness!