Wedding

Saturday my first cousin on my dad's side got married.  It's funny because when I told Shana I was going to my dad's sister's daughter's wedding she said, "but your dad is an only child, I thought?" Ha!  Christy said, "you don't have any cousins, right?"  I DO have cousins, we just rarely see each other.  But I love them and it was a treat to see them!  An outdoor reception- and it was precious!





 Marc and I picked up mom on the way down and when she got out we couldn't believe we were TWINKIES! We called ourselves Marc's backup dancers- :)



Pawpaw with the bride-

 

Memaw, Mom, Marc and a cousin-in-law-  (P.S. the bride and groom are huge Auburn fans and had orange and blue as the theme)-



Memaw and the bride-



Pawpaw and yours truly-



Memaw and Pawpaw with their four grandchildren and their spouses-



On the way home to Virginia, they came by Mom and Dad's house. We went over after church for lunch and had a great visit- the men (who were watching bull riding!)-
 

The ladies and babies (watching Thomas the train)- :)
 

Cuddlebug Sissy curled up into Memaw's lap several times- she just LOVES to snuggle-



And finished up with a yummy steak super- I LOVE FAMILY. I love having Memaw and Pawpaw come down. I love us all being together. I'm so grateful for these times.

Friday....

So on Friday Charliebear is still so sick.  He wakes up and goes to bed an hour later for three hours.  Just pitiful!  We had planned a field trip to the apple orchard and my friend Catherine saved the day and offered to take Marc and Julia for me!  And what a time they had- the orchard broke the children up into groups and moved them around teaching them about the different types of apples, how they are processed, Johnny Appleseed, etc.- what a fun time.





No, Tucker is not in this picture- that's his doppelganger friend-

 




After the apples- it was picnic time!

 

Amazingly, Catherine called from the orchard and asked if I would mind if she "stopped by Ave Maria Grotto" on the way home! What a treat! Yes, she took six kids there, but she said they were great and had a blast- I know they did!





They even found a beautiful, tree-lined path to a graveyard chapel-

 

It was so nice of Catherine to give the children such a special day- and to let baby Charlie rest in peace and quiet. I did have to get out when I realized we were out of diapers and medicine- here's how we roll in Babies R Us-

Where to begin..Wednesday/Thursday

Yes, I still have a blog- we've just been so busy- there never seems time to get on the computer.  To recap the past week- I'll start with Wednesday.  That morning we went to the theater to see an "earth harp" performance.  When we walked in I was so hopeful- we sat under the strings-





 It was quite underwhelming though. I don't want to go on and on about it, but the sound ends at the "dampers" a little way up the string- so really the long, long strings are just for show- not for sound. At the end of the day, the whole performance felt like smoke and mirrors and not actual talent. They took us outside and had crazy chanting singers, a scantily-dressed, tattooed  aerial dancer, and a guy playing drums put on their side (which makes them cool apparently)-

 



I was visibly frustrated that I'd taken all this effort to get to the show just to see this mediocre business.  A tank top and highlights do not mask the fact you are playing one note at a time.  Anybody that can read music (or memorize it for that matter) could do this.   Marky asked "Mommy, why did you not like this show?"  I explained to him that it was not "modest or beautiful".  We talked a long time about how TRUE talent speaks for itself and doesn't need to undress to get attention.  (FYI- Marky's hair was cut the next day) :)



It all ended up so wonderful because just the NEXT morning we went to hear the Symphony and sat on the 2nd row by the violins and percussion and saw how different the level of talent was, not to mention the quality of music.  Watching the violin section play Flight of the Bumblebees, you clearly get the feeling it's not something you could "figure out" how to do yourself in a week or two.  We talked on and on about how the orchestra musicians did not dress outrageously because their talent spoke for itself.  We were able to talk about these themes in the spiritual life- true joy vs. the appearance of joy...or peace...or hope...whatever- we  always have to be on guard to seek the authentic, the true, the pure- not the mere shadows offered up to us on a daily basis.
 
Tucker understood it lacked quality- here's his 'unimpressed face' from the 'earth instruments' demonstrations-



Charlie, on the other hand, loves all things-


Also, unrelated- Wednesday night we had a church supper and I love how little Tuck Tuck looks on the front row-



ANYWAY.... Thursday, we had the symphony, art class, Moms day out- then two soccer games and a cub scout pack meeting!  I'm starting to feel the pull of having four babies!  BB and Poppy came up to help with soccer- the plan was for them to watch one child's soccer game, Marc watch the other child's game and for me to take Marky to scouts.   Well, we got to the soccer fields and Charlie is really, obviously sick (choking and shaking) and Marc says, "I'm taking him to the ER".  (He's okay- just had some bad infections in the ears and lungs that are clearing up).  So Marc takes Charlie to the hospital, BB watches Julia's soccer game, I watch Tucker's soccer game and sweet Poppy takes Marky to his scout meeting.  Four babies- four locations- four adults.  What would we have done without BB and Poppy?  I can't say it enough- I LOVE having them live here!  Thank you!
And from that night- Julia's game- cutie patootie- having a good time- even though at one point she came and sat down by me and said, "Mommy, I don't think I'm very good at soccer."  :)  Good thing she loves it anyway- and she does hustle and try-



 Best friends-



 

And Silly Tuck Tuck- he loved to run back and forth and wave at the crowd- I had to keep saying "go to the ball!" :)

 

This moment is always followed by "I DID IT!" and jumping up and down-  melts mommy's heart-



My sweet cub scout- so glad he didn't miss his pack meeting and bonfire-




So that was Wednesday and Thursday- on to Friday!