Flower Girls!

This wasn't our first rodeo, Addy & Lilly had done this before, but this time it was different. It was UNCLE Jon's wedding. It was NEW YEAR'S EVE. It involved traveling to another state. There were other little people involved. We were the role models??? I really wondered what we had gotten ourselves into...

However, after a bit of anxiety, I calmed myself down knowing that the bride (Aunt Maggie) was laid back and LOVED our kids. This whole flower girl under the age of 8 doesn't work any other way. It also helps that my families are so intertwined, my in-laws and brother-in-laws and some great friends were all invited, so we had all hands on deck when necessary.

The girls were so excited to be a part of it, they loved the other bridesmaids, loved having their Aunt Cat in from DC and their favorite 'big-boyfriends' from Atlanta came too. They loved going to the salon for their first 'up-do', then they loved slowly pulling it out as the night progressed. They LOVED dancing. They LOVED sleeping in a hotel. It was one of those weekends when you look around and realize how lucky you really are to be in the moment (well, at least in the moment when you weren't about to kill a kid.)

The pictures are wonderful, some mine, some the professional photog. It will be tough to decide which to frame! Enjoy....

The Ash/Sadler Pic

Addy--just before midnight--these girls pushed the limits of bedtime!

Cat, Maggie & I

Lilly with my bouquet (they carried flower balls which I loved)

Cat, Jon & I

The girls in the 'green' room right before the ceremony!

Charlie, Maggie's nephew, was the victim of some serious stalking over the weekend!

Me & Lilly

They've never met a stranger....

Valentine's & What Winter?

Thanks to my new obsession with Pinterest, I've been feeling slightly underachieving lately. Between the crafts some moms post and the 'everyday' meals that make my dinner table look inadequate, this amazing website can be both thrilling and depressing at the same time. After seeing all the Valentine ideas, I knew the standard box cards weren't going to do it for me this year, so we set off to make a modified version of this...

Addy, loved this photoshoot!

Lilly, a bit under the weather, was a trooper and picked the cutest lollipops!

Living in Indiana, we prepped for a pretty heavy winter--this was the first year we splurged on snow pants, boots, sleds and enough hats/gloves/ear muffs to last a few seasons. I knew they'd love playing in the snow this year, so I was ready! But, of course, as luck would have it, we've actually seen very LITTLE snow. The girls have managed to 'need' to shovel the driveway only once and during our annual lake weekend with some dear friends, we saw only flurries. The flurries were enough to convince my husband that the girls could 'street sled' on a flat road covered with a little frost. They had a blast, but these pictures do make it look much more dangerous than it actually was. It was a great weekend with friends and their kiddos who my kiddos adored, so all in all, it didn't matter that we didn't see snow.

Shovel Queens

Addy--my adventurer

Lilly--much more cautious, but loved it!

The dads at launch~!

The weekend crew!