You know you're raising your kids in the South, when...

I apologize if you are tiring of my kid stories. This is my little place where it's easy to catalogue and record the incidental happenings in our lives. Keeps it all packaged up for me to print and save. So, here's one more for the record:

You may recall a story about a delightful band called "The Worship Leaders"; well, I haven't heard anything new from them in a while so I thought perhaps there was dissension in the ranks again. However, Cameron told me today that he wanted to sing something for me. So, I stopped and listened while he sang a little two-line ditty for me. It went something like this, "Who in tarnation can rule the Nations? His name is God." I had to hide my surprise and amusement while I asked 'where did you hear that?'

"Oh, me and Sissy wrote it." (excuse grammar, please)

I didn't even know my kids knew the word tarnation. It may be time to "get out of Dodge".

Keri's Annual Mother's Day Luncheon and some Joyful Noise

My readers may recall that I shared last year about my sister Keri's tradition of hosting a brunch for the ladies of her family every Mother's Day weekend. This was her first year to host it as a married lady in her own home, and she opted to have it this Saturday and do an afternoon luncheon instead.

The number of ladies present certainly increased this year since Keri gained a new mother-in-law, sis-in-law, grandma-in-law, as well as the upcoming addition of Monee' to our family.

Keri puts a lot of time, effort, and love into making this a special time. She sends out personal invitations, even if we're just across town. And my little girls think it's so cool that they're included too. When we arrive, she always has a notecard addressed to each guest at their place setting with a touching personal note. Those always mean a lot to me, and again, my girls feel so big and special to be included. We always try to take the time for a few generational pictures at this event. I didn't seem to get quite as much of a variety of pictures this year, but I think the ones I have are pretty special.

Keri's menu: Linguine with Shrimp or Chicken; Breadsticks; Fresh Apples and Grapes with Marshmallow Creme Dip; Miniature Cheesecakes, original and orange w/chocolate (yum!); Black and White Cookies; homemade Madeleines; Lemonade or Iced Tea with strawberries. And she sent each guest home with an adorable little box of four cupcakes with homemade buttercream frosting. It was all delicious....
Beautiful job, Keri!

As for the Joyful Noise part, I thought I'd throw in a completely unrelated element for your viewing pleasure! Our children sang during church this morning, and Derek video'ed them during their practice before service. I thought it was actually better during the service, but this gives you an idea anyway! Enjoy! (I think Sophie's serious facial expression is hilarious, and she had that same look during church! She takes it very seriously! :) )

Warning: You should be prepared to adjust your volume DOWN...it's a little loud! Sorry...

A PLETHORA of Pictures~~

Okay, I finally gave up on trying to enlarge the pics I had previously posted! What a pain! So, for your viewing pleasure, here are a few extras that I made extra big....just for you...you know who you are :)

(Given the way my brother Jonathan feels about this lovely girl, Monee', we're guessing we may gain a new sister at some point! Thus, the pic.



I return to blogosphere after an exhausting, draining, but ultimately lovely weekend. No matter the stress up to the point, weddings always manage to come off with relatively minor incident! It was wonderful to see my sister have the wedding of her dreams, and also to visit with some friends/family that I hadn't seen in a long time. The flower girl for my own wedding was my cousin's daughter. I hadn't seen her since then, which was 11 years already!
WARNING: there will be a long succession of pics in this post. It's very difficult to narrow it down. I will try! And I will also throw in some details, since....well.....OBVIOUSLY..since we're GIRLS! And GIRLS love details!

So, let's begin with some commentary on the day. It really was a beautiful day, and a beautiful ceremony. Keri was in great spirits and thoroughly enjoyed her wedding to the max. The prelude music began at 6:00 p.m. She had some serious and some fun music thrown in. The final prelude song prior to the ceremony was Lauren, Cameron, and Sophie singing "Goin' To The Chapel"; I really wish I had video of that so I could upload it for you. I'm biased, but it really was DARLING! The color theme revolved around fall, since Keri chose a fall wedding for that purpose! The dresses were dark espresso, and the flowers were beautiful orange gerber daisies, terra cotta roses, and yellow alstromeria. The contrast was stunning, as you will see in the pics. Keri surprised her groom, Scott, by singing "Born to Love You" for him. It was a complete surprise. Keri usually shuns public singing, but she wanted to do this for him, and she worked VERY HARD on the song. She knocked it out of the park, and DID AWESOME. My dad sang to Keri after walking her down the aisle. A song called "My Little Girl". I was on the platform, doing my best not to cry. FAT CHANCE. I wept that ugly kind of cry, and was mad at myself! But it was impossible not to, I guess. She had a friend who had been there when she met Scott for the first time, share some thoughts and reflections on how they got together. And, in the interest of full disclosure, one of my favorite parts of the ceremony had to be the giving/receiving of rings. It truly is a sacredly symbolic expression of marriage and marital commitment. Very touching.

The Lord helped our little trio (Derek, Lauren, and I) to sing our song. I was so proud of my girl! Sophie came down the aisle, dropping her little basket of rosebuds like a pro. However, after plopping down on a front step for a seat, she apparently noticed that there were plenty of buds left. So she proceeded to unceremoniously dump the whole bunch out right there...and play in them pretty much the rest of the time!!! I was a little mortified! But I don't think she was the most heinous child I've ever seen in a wedding. (Indeed, I was probably just being repaid for the things I've said about a couple of youngsters in my own wedding! NOT KRISTEN, Rachel!!)
Our Aunt Elesha (the same one who did mine) did Keri's wedding cake, and it was magnificent. The food was an italian pasta buffet, with ICE COLD ALE8 bottles on tap, and chocolate covered strawberries on each table. It was all delicious. The couple left amid a flurry of sparklers, and sitting on the back of a friend's convertible.

Despite the humorous comments we've exchanged over Derek and Brent's less than stellar reception performance at Kayla's wedding, I have to tell you in all honesty, he was AMAZING on Saturday. He did such an incredible job. In fact, Keri's photograher (who is one of the best around) stopped my mom and asked who in the world the incredible "wedding singer" was! He wanted permission to give Derek's name/# when brides ask him for referrals! And I might as well throw this in, since I'm bragging shamelessly about my man....we've been together for a LONG time, all things considered. He doesn't surprise me too often. He's not really big into planning surprises. So I was supremely floored when he saved the last song of the night as a dedication to me! He wrote it for me, and he told Scott, the groom, that his wish for him would be that 11 years down the road, he would feel the same way about Keri that he feels for me! Ya'll.....I CRIED my eyes out! It was the sweetest thing. My heart still melts at the thought of it.


But enough yakking....ON TO THE PICTURES.....! Enjoy!















And for my favorite pic of the night..............