Congratulations Claire & Chris

The weekend of July 11th & 12th, Tom's brother Chris got married to his lovely fiancee, Claire. It was in Leavenworth, which such a beautiful and warm setting to have a wedding.

We got there Friday late afternoon and had the rehearsal, which went well, followed by the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was at an Italian restaurant, which was delicious. There was so much food, they just keep bringing more and more out. Tommy was behaving very nicely and playing tic-tac-dough with another Mom. I'm so thankful to her for keeping Tommy occupied while I tried to eat and keep Joey busy. She's the best! Joey was tired as he only took an hour nap, so he was all over the place and I just couldn't keep him out of things. Finally, I took him back to the hotel so he could start to settle down and go to sleep. On the way back to our room he fell down and scrapped his knee. Poor guy. Tom brought Tommy back to the room and soon we were sound asleep.

Saturday, Wedding Day!

We went to breakfast with Tom's other brothers, Dan and Tim, along with Dan's girlfriend, Jen. It was good and we just hung out afterwards and Tom and his brothers went to mini putt-putt, while I took the kids into town. After town, I took the boys on a car ride, so Joey could sleep. I dropped Tom and Tommy off at the arcade, so they could play some games while I drove Joey around hoping he would get some more snooze time in. He ended up only sleeping about an hour, which definitely was not enough, but better than nothing. Then Joey and I went to the arcade to join Tom and Tommy. It was a lot of fun!

It was time then to head back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. Tom and I got ready and I only put the boys' dress pants on them as I didn't want their white shirts to get dirty before pictures and the ceremony (they did have a different shirt on though). When we walked in and I wanted to see Claire. Joey and I headed upstairs in this beautiful house, which is set up for doing weddings and I think it is a B&B as well. Claire was getting her makeup done. How BEAUTIFUL she looked! Everyone was running around getting ready for pictures and trying to stay cool. The staff at Beecher House was so accommodating and helpful, Claire and Chris couldn't have picked a better place to get married. At one point I even asked one of the ladies if they had anything for Joey to eat and she got Joey a banana. I had brought a bunch of stuff for him to eat, but of course he didn't want it. The banana hit the spot along with the lemon water.

The pictures were beautifully done. Wedding pictures are priceless and to have a great photographer is also priceless. The photographer was wonderful with working with everybody, including Joey, especially in the heat. We walked around the grounds of Beecher House, which has apple trees and grape vines surrounding it. The pictures in the fields, I know will be beautiful.

Joey started getting really cranky as I know he was tired and probably hot too, like the rest of us. Joey's job was to be the ring bearer. As the day wore on, I wasn't sure he was going to make it. As the wedding started and they were beginning the proceed down the aisle, is was pretty clear that Joey wasn't going to hold onto the flower girl's hand. So Claire told Tom to go get Tommy. Joey ended up hold hands with and walking in between Tommy and the flower girl. Everyone said they were really cute walking down the aisle. I was busy trying to get to my seat and I had to get Tommy and Joey after they walked down the aisle. Who knows what mischief Joey would have gotten into up at the alter, so it was better that he sat with me and Tommy.

Claire and Chris were beautiful up at the alter. Everyone was sweating as it was 90+ and the alter was directly in the sun. It was beautiful though! They said their vows and then the party started. Claire and Chris were so happy up there and all day long. They are just perfect for each other and more importantly they accept the other as they are and don't expect the other to change. They work together in life, which is so important as well. I truly wish them all the happiness in the world!

CONGRATULATIONS CLAIRE & CHRIS!!

Joey's First Haircut

Joey had his first haircut by a hairdresser this past Wednesday. I've been cutting his hair, but decided for Uncle Chris and Aunt Claire's wedding that I better have it done professionally. Tommy went first, so that we could get Joey excited about getting his haircut. Joey seemed excited until we put him in the chair. He wasn't quite sure about this whole thing. I walked away figuring it would be better for the lady cut his hair on her own without Mom standing right there. He did pretty well considering it was his first time in the big chair and getting his haircut by someone other than me. (Not that he does all that well with me either.) The lady then pulled out the trimmer to straighten the bottom edge of his hair and to do above his ears. He definitely did not like the sound the trimmer made, so I had to help her hold his head still so she could try to get a straight line. Overall, Joey did really well following in Tommy's footsteps of getting a big boy haircut for the first time.

Oops!

Saturday night I went out to help celebrate a Bachelorette Party for my future sister-in-law, Claire. I had lots of fun getting to know her friends at dinner and bowling. We then decided to go to a bar, which considering I probably haven't been to a bar in 10+ years, it's not surprising that I decided to go home. I went to say goody-bye to Claire. She decided she wanted to go home too, so I took her home. It is worth mentioning at this point, I was the only one not drinking.

I dropped her off fine and was backing out of her driveway, when I made a big mistake. I decided to backup just a little further. I heard a BIG CRUNCH! Oh, NO! I had looked back, but didn't see anything, but obviously something was there. So I pulled my car over, got out, looked at the car I had just hit and went and got Claire. Claire came and looked at the car and said that was her friend's car! Oh, whatever had I done. We went back into the house and I wrote a note and put it on the car. I also called the owner to let her know that I had backed into her car and that her front quarter panel would definitely have to be replaced and maybe the door too (it was too dark for me to tell if the door only had a scratch on it or more). I got a hold of the owner this morning and thankfully she is very understanding and I'm not sure if it's better or not, but it's her company's car. I gave her all my insurance information and will just let them deal with it.

My beloved Odyssey's bumper was pushed in a little and Tom was able to get it out most of the way, but you can tell that I hit something. So we will have the repair shop look at it too to make sure there isn't more damage that we can't see.