Luke's Wedding

My Dad has a twin brother, Uncle Dan and he is like SUCH a great Uncle.  He is fantastic.  In any case, his son, my first cousin, Luke got married a few weeks ago.  We were lucky enough to go to the very nice wedding.  It was held at a lovely church downtown in Houston, and then the reception was next door at a big stadium. It was all very nice!  Here's my whole little family here. Aren't they cute!?  I'm so lucky, so blessed.  

 I loved the dress I am wearing here for months and months, but it was really expensive.  My patience paid off, though, because it went on sale and I was delighted that Whitney told me to buy it.  And here I am, looking nice at my cousin's wedding in the exact dress I wanted.

 Isn't my little Eli a handsome fellow?  I just love that sharp little guy.  He was so good during the wedding, but sad for a bit thinking he missed seeing them say "you may now kiss the bride."  Haha.

 Dora is a little angel, too.  She is such a helper with the other girls.

 Here's my dad, who has lost like 40 pounds, and his twin brother, my Uncle Dan.  Aren't they handsome??

 Here's my mom and my littlest angel, Tessa.  Both pretty in pink!

 These shots were from the reception.  I am so lucky to have this man--he is wonderful with the kids, and with me.  He truly lifts me up and makes my life happy and full of joy.  Oh, Whit, where would I be without you?  Look what a beautiful man he is! And he helped me make some gorgeous little girls.

 They spent hours out there on the dance floor.

 I love these of him with all three of his daughters.

 My shiny little angel, Emmy.

 Tessa and Emmy stole the show.  People kept coming up and telling me how beautiful the babies both were.  They're right!

 LOVED Luke's choice of bachelor cake.  So funny!!

 Emmy and the other kids LOVED going to look at the cakes.  We must have gone over there a dozen times.  Did I already mention I love this baby girl's eyes?  Because I do!

 Here's Uncle Clint and Colin.

 Emmy and the other kids had some veggie trays with various things, and Emmy wanted to play with the cucumbers.  It was pretty funny.

 Isn't my adorable little Dora cute!??

 I just adore her big blue eyes.

 Here's my cousin Charlotte and cousin Jeffrey.  I used to babysit him when I was a little kid, but believe me, he was even smaller.

 Eli is such a cute little guy.  So well behaved.  He wanted a soda, but all they had was Coke.  He got all freaked out because Nana had told him that Coke was bad for you.  Kinda hilarious, except it was just one more bit of whining.  Sheesh.

 The food at the wedding was wonderful.  Here's Tessa, enjoying a carrot.  She is so cute, and her dad is so handsome!!

 My dad looks so handsome, now that he's so skinny, and here he is with my gorgeous mom.  I bought this dress at Ann Taylor and my mom liked it so much, she went and bought one too, just to copy me.  ;)

 Here's my dad, dancing with his Aunt, his mom's younger sister.  (My cousin Charlotte's mom).  It was cute, while they were dancing, Tessa came over to beg for Papa's attention.  She gets jealous when ANYONE else pays attention to Papa.  So cute.  She was just LOVING on him during the ceremony and the reception, too.

 See?  Her new thing is to say "Up, up" when she wants us to pick her up.  Cute!! And reminds me of Angelina Jolie's baby girl in the movie Maleficent!

 Stealing a little more grandparent time with my mom, here.  She's asking for more to drink.  That kid.  Haha.

 Handsome cousin Jeffrey, again.  Think he's annoyed I take too many photos?? Haha.

 Here's my gorgeous oldest girl, Dora.  I swear, sometimes I just sit back and think, "HOLY COW, how did I make something this beautiful."  If you ask how she's so pretty, she will tell you it's because I "GREW her so pretty."  So sweet.  I cannot say how grateful I am for her sweet spirit with her siblings and everyone around her.  She is a joy to me.

We are so happy for Luke, and we had a great time!! CONGRATS ON YOUR WEDDING!!

Eli's Reading Restaurant

Eli's school did a thing called a "reading restaurant" where they invited one person to come and then instead of serving them food, they served three courses of books, an appetizer, a main course and a dessert.  They even had a menu to choose from.  Eli had a cute chef hat and we all sat at special tables in the library.  It was SO cute.  The kids picked the books in advance and prepared.  I was so honored that Eli chose ME to come to his big event.  

Here he is, delighted to wave to me. 

 Look at my adorable little chef!

 Here he is, my Chef Baker.  No one I'd rather have read to me on this earth!

I am so proud of Eli.  He is reading at a 3-4 grade level and he reads all the time, for fun!  We have a personally created summer reading program and he is literally burning through the books right now.  He's such a cute little guy, so eager to be good, to be smart, to be a helper.  He's a great older brother and I can't say enough good things about him.  He is my sensitive, bright little pride and joy.  He has lost four teeth and his fourth is almost all the way in.  I think the only problem I have is that he's growing up way too fast.  They did an awards banquet for school and he got a gazillion awards.  He's just so smart.  He got straight As, lowest grade of 96 this year.  What a smarty pants. I literally have to go in at 9 pm and take his books away and turn out his lights.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree... 

My Darling Emerald turns THREE!!

My little Emerald was set on a Halloween birthday party.  We all got costumes for this year's Halloween early so we could all be dressed up.  Emmy wanted to be an Emerald fairy.  Isn't she gorgeous?  I mean, I know I'm biased because she's my mom but I swear, she is the prettiest baby I have ever seen.  Her eyes... they are just spectacular.  

 I love this shot of her.  You can see the sparkles on her from the sequins on her dress.

 Whit dressed up as Bain, the bad guy from the dark Batman, I was Rainbow Brite, Tessa was Batman's helper, Batgirl (and was notably afraid of Bain!).  Eli was the three headed dog from Harry Potter, and Dora was a punk rocker.

 After the party, the kids wanted to know who Rainbow Brite was--an old cartoon from the 80s.  I bought them on amazon and they have LOVED watching them!! LOL

 Here's Batgirl, all chummy with dad.

 Until he puts his mask on.  Then she would get all upset and cry.  Here she is just looking concerned.

 Now, peek-a-boo, HAPPY!

 I love this little angel.  She is a stinker and a handful, but OH SO CUTE.

 LOVE this batgirl superhero!!

 Uncle Brian came and it was quite the hit.

 Emmy's friend Penelope came, too.  They were matching princesses.  Cute, huh!?

 We had a pinata, and everyone took a swing.. at the end, though, we had a bigger hitter step up.

 Brian got one swing--he decapitated the pinata with one swing.

 Yeepers!!

 We had a beautiful pumpkin/jack-o-lantern cake made by a friend, Tere Hames.  It tasted WONDERFUL.

 Look at that ADORABLE little girl!!

 Tessa appreciated the cake, maybe more than anyone!

 After cake, the kids all went "trick or treating" from one to the next person.  Each of them had either treats or toys.  The kids were excited.

 Eli and Hayley get along so well!

 Here is Whit in Dora's punker wig.

 Emmy got a toy with a green dress and blonde hair and blue eyes, just like her!! An emerald fairy!!!

 Aunt Linsey came, too.  Emmy was happy to give her a big old hug.

Emmy's First Day of School

Emmy decided about January that she wanted to do preschool with Dora.  She was super excited but they didn't have room in their classes.  I thought summer camp would be a good way to test run for next year.  Here is Emmy on her first day of summer camp.  Doesn't she look cute?? Her big sister Dora went, too and it was a hit all around! 

 Little angel with blue eyes and angel golden hair!!

 Love those BIG BLUE EYES!!

 I love the little backpack she chose, too!