The Wedding

 The long anticipated wedding finally arrived this weekend.  Mark's sister Hannah got married on Sunday and Eden was going to be the flower girl.  She was so excited!  I was a little nervous since it was only the second week of school and she also was very sick last week.  We thought she had strep but when her strep screen came back negative the doctor was pretty sure we had a nasty case of hand, foot and mouth.  Poor girl was miserable!  She came home from school Friday,went to bed at 5:30 and slept until Saturday morning!  Saturday afternoon found us at the beauty salon getting her hair done for the wedding.  It was so fun watching her.  There were 3 other African American girls getting their hair done at the same time she was and she was watching wide eyed.  Her favorite part was when they straightened part of her hair!  She desperately wants straight hair and her eyes just sparkled.

 My sweet kids minus the baby.  How I love them!

 Mark's sisters are simply beautiful!  Every.single.one!  Beautiful inside and out!  Hannah, Joyce and Grace - the younger three.

 Christine and Suzanne are the older two sisters.  Both married and both have 2 sweet children.  I feel very blessed to have married into a family where I gained a bunch of sisters. 

 Hannah with my sweet Eden.

 Eden's cousin Jacqueline was the other flower girl.  Aren't they so cute?!

 Hannah was such a beautiful bride! 

 Classic beauty!

 We tried our best to get a family shot and this is about as good as it got.  I love this crew!

 Proof that Naomi was at the wedding.  She was loving her daddy and leaning in for kisses.

 Mark's siblings, parents and the new brother-in-law who is also named Mark.  Beautiful family!!

The happy couple with the littles in the wedding party.  Eden told Mark that her favorite part of the wedding was holding "that boys" hand.  Oh good grief!

We survived the weekend, all the kids woke up bright and early Monday morning even though I told them they could sleep in and off they went to school. 

We are so happy for Mark and Hannah!  People will often somewhat flippantly say people are good for each other but these two really are good for each other!! 

And once I recover completely and get caught up on life maybe I will find a way to make this blog a priority again.  Just maybe. 

First Day of School

 We woke up early to a bunch of nervous energy!  Breakfast was hardly able to be choked down past the lump in the throats and food felt funny on the jittery stomachs.  Half-eaten bowls of cereal were deserted and shoes were put on.  Backpacks were worn proudly and children declared they were ready to go.  Twenty minutes before we needed to walk out to meet the bus.  So the waiting began.  And last minute bathroom visits.  Judah left first since he is now in middle-school.  Where has the time gone?  His bus cruised on past our driveway but the driver noticed a waiting young man so hit the brakes!!  One on his merry way!

 Is it possible that he is in 4th grade already? 

 Tristan proudly saying he is in first grade.  He was the only one that about made me come unglued.  During good-bye hugs his chin started quivering and the tears started welling up in his eyes!  I pulled him as close as possible and whispered how proud I was of his bravery!  He nodded his head and turned to walk with Shane, Eden and his dad to meet the bus.  I know I would be a blubbering mess if I was the one putting them on the bus which would only make things worse. 

 And Miss E!  She could hardly wait!  She bounded out of bed, got dressed and was ready to go.  She was so ready to finally get to ride the bus.  I find it so hard to believe that in the four years she has been home she has grown from Naomi's size to a young girl ready to venture off on her own. 

This is where I found Heidi after the photo shoot with her siblings!  Little turkey!!  She loves climbing in the crib to snuggle.  And as you can tell Naomi doesn't mind.

The final verdict as everyone piled out of the bus this afternoon:  awesome!!  Everyone had a great first day despite the nerves.  Judah survived figuring out his locker combination, changing classes.....and everyone else came home full of stories!