Busy

I didn't mean to leave that last post dangling there for so long - we've been a little busy this week:

Changes

It's been blustery here - cold, gray, feeling most definitely like fall. (Except for last Saturday when we took the children to a festival in nearly 100 degree heat.) I'm feeling fully intrenched in our school routines and schedule. The seasonal shift is apparent in everything these days. It may be the changes in the weather that have me feeling like something is brewing, or it may be the humdinger of a surprise we have planned for the kids (If you know, don't tell!), but there is a lot of anticipation in the air in these parts. 

And then this happened...

When I left the house after dinner, my odometer looked like this:

That's 191,132 miles people!

Upon returning home, my odometer looked like this:

204 miles down, lots and lots and lots and lots to go. Squeeeeee!!!!!!

Books!

In our house we love to read. The kids love being read to, and they both love reading books on their own. Harper is at the stage where she is constantly surprising me with what she's reading. A couple of days ago I found her with Ramona the Brave and thought surely she wasn't understanding that on her own... but then I asked her about it and I think she is. I had her read a little bit aloud to me and in three pages she only tripped up on the word, "triumph." I find she stumbles over words that aren't part of her life experience. Some of the Magic Tree House books throw her for a loop, though they are easier reading than Ramona, because she has never encountered some of the history/geography in those books before. So we talk about it, she learns. Books are awesome.

I have been asked about how Harper learned to read early. The short answer is that she was ready and I know the things to say/do to push her in that direction. I keep thinking I might write a post to expand on that, but the really, really simple answer is this. Read to your kids. All the time. Every day. Make room for it. If you do that, most kids will learn when they are ready. The end. 

When you do that, you'll also have kids who will spend 45 minutes at the kitchen table pouring over the first book orders of the year:

Harper was so excited to come home with those book orders, you'd think she was holding a winning lottery ticket. 

When I was in grade school the mailman used to come during our afternoon recess. We always accosted the poor guy looking in his basket for book order delivery boxes. He must have LOVED that.

There's really no point to this post except to say it's back to school time. Book orders will be coming home. Buy some books. Read them.

And, in an unrelated note, is it just me or is this child looking achingly grown-up lately?

Also, I am in love with this song. Go and listen.

Michael's Turn

Look who started school this week!

Last year, for various reasons, Michael's school experiences were a little random. He was in one early intervention program and a different preschool (each 2x/week) for the first 2/3 of the school year. Then graduated into our public school preschool program (where he received speech services) when he turned three. Michael didn't do well with all the back and forth. I don't know how much I wrote about it, but he cried almost every day at drop off for most of the school year. On one hand, it didn't bother me too much. I knew from his after school reports that he didn't cry long and was safe and happy at school. But there is still something difficult about walking away from a child crying, "Moooommmmy staaaaaaaayyyy!" as you go out the door.

Of course by the time he was reliably NOT crying, it was time for summer vacation.

This summer I left him in the daycare room at church during the week I worked at Vacation Bible School. He screamed every day. I did not find this encouraging.

Still, Michael seemed excited about starting school. He said multiple times he was going to be a big boy and not cry. Then, sometime the week before school started, we had this exchange:

Michael: Mom, I do not want you to leave when the teachers walk the kids to the classroom.

Me: When can I leave?

Michael: When the teachers bring us back to the moms.

Me: You want me to wait in the hallway when you are at school all day?

Michael: Yes!

Uh oh.

Still, the first day of school came (on Monday) and we had to drop something off in the office before school. Michael happily followed me to the office and back, clinging gleefully to his backpack, telling me, "I like my school!" 

When the teachers came he looked a little nervous, but he didn't start crying and he didn't cling. I gave him a quick hug and kiss, a high-five, and then I ran away before he could change his mind beg me to stay.

Each morning I sort of held my breath, waiting to see if it would get more difficult as time went on. But every day this week he bravely held his chin up, stood in line with his friends, and waved good-bye. 

He's had a great week, been participating in class, even allowed his teachers to cover his hands in paint. All big feats for our little boy. 

I'm really proud of him. I think he's proud of himself, too.

First First Day

Before I say anything else I have to thank you guys for all the support you offered after I posted my back-to-school worries. It is one of the handful of times (others - parties/holidays!) that I get really on the verge of panic over the food allergy situation. I know that I'm not a big target in the bloggy world - but you should see the kinds of comments that often pop up on allergy articles/blogs. Let's just say many of them are less than supportive. It means more than I can say that all I got was care and concern from my lovely webby friends.

I don't know that many of them read here, but I also have to say that the parents of Harper's friends have stepped up in a HUGE way this week so that she had someone (or two someones!) to sit with every day (at her peanut free table). The whole, "It takes a village," thing has never felt so true.

Harper herself was a complete wreck on Monday, the day before school. She was whiny and weepy and cycled from thinking first grade would be awesome to first grade would be awful about 368 times throughout the day. By lunch time I was hearing the siren song of boarding school. Because it (fortunately) doesn't happen too often, I kind of forget that this is how my dear girl works out her anxiety.

Are you surprised that everything has actually gone really, really well? :-)

All summer long I heard Harper say she didn't want to go to first grade because she loved kindergarten so much and didn't want to leave it. I had a hunch it would only take about five minutes in first grade for that feeling to dissipate and I was correct.

Harper, so far, is very chatty and forthcoming about her school day - especially if I don't press her about it all at once. She will wander in and out of the kitchen, dropping details like breadcrumbs, as I get dinner ready or do some cleaning up - I love it. And I LOVE what I'm hearing about what they are doing in school - I think she was placed with a great teacher for her personality and I hope Mrs. B is enjoying Harper even half as much as Harper is enjoying her!

We are so lucky.

***
File this under a problem I never thought I'd have...
.
Harper has suddenly decided that she loves reading more than TV (which is a huge turn-around, that child was TV obsessed by the time she was 18 mos. old). This, of course, is not a bad development but it comes with some unexpected (for me) issues. The primary one being that she keeps disappearing into her room in the morning  to "get ready" or going down the hall to brush her teeth, then, when I check on her, she is just sitting on her couch and reading instead of whatever task I sent her to do!

I have actually contemplated whether we're going to need a, "No Reading Before School," rule, to go with the, "No TV Before School," rule - how crazy is that?

Big Sigh

Okay, so, Tuesday is the first day of school. The first day of first grade. Which means our first experience with all day school and lunch at school. Lunch in the school cafeteria where peanut butter and jelly is a menu choice every single day. Deep breath.

I'm going to do my allergy fretting/freak out right now in an attempt to let go of it before that first day.

The people at Harper's school have been great partners in this endeavor - setting up a peanut free table and making time for the children to wash their hands after lunch before going back to the nut free classroom. Harper will always have her EpiPens with her for any time that those other precautions aren't enough. Still, it is going to be mighty difficult to let her go and trust that everything is going to be okay.

Some people with food allergies have to ingest their allergen to have a reaction - others can react from the presence of their allergen in the air. Harper, to the best of our knowledge, falls somewhere in between these two extremes. We know she has had contact reactions in the past - so she is affected by merely touching peanut residue - hence the table and the hand washing. One frustrating question I have repeatedly been asked, by very well-intentioned people, is how far away Harper has to stay from peanut butter to be safe. I don't know the answer to this - since we have spent much of the last five years avoiding peanuts as thoroughly as possible. You can imagine, then, why it feels so crazy to send her into an environment where she'll be sort of surrounded by people eating peanut butter on a daily basis.

Every allergic family has a different comfort zone based on a combination of instinct, medical advice, and personal experience. On the spectrum our comfort zone is pretty tight.  We proceed with fairly extreme caution in most circumstances and are constantly weighing the desire not to limit Harper's life with the desire to keep her safe. (We're really all doing that all the time, aren't we?)

Preschool, kindergarten, each new step has felt terrifying - but we survived.

First grade is next - I guess it is time to take a deep breath and jump.

Wish List

Some things I would like, in no particular order*:

-a cure for food allergies

-my children to get along w/out screaming for more than 5 minutes at a stretch

-the ability to function on 4 hours of sleep or less (w/ no physiological/psychological effects)

-if my kids aren't going to eat what I prepare for them, I'd at least like them to stop preparing speeches about why they don't want to eat a particular item

-self-cleaning floors

-to know the right answer to the work vs. stay-at-home question (for our family)

-to recognize the right job opportunity when it presents itself

-a successful school year for my children

-a modest lottery win

(*This should not be considered a comprehensive list.)

And you?

Well Then

Not so long ago I was in the library with the children. I think it was during one of the summer puppet shows (Michael was not a fan) because I was reading with Michael in the children's room while Harper attended the show. That day we happened to be reading Biscuit books.

As Michael and I were reading and discussing the pictures, an adorable little girl kept edging closer and closer, clearly interested in our story/conversation. At the conclusion of one book I asked her, "Do you like Biscuit?  We're big Biscuit fans in our house."

She smiled at me and said, "My mother says they're twaddle."

Okay.

Um, I mean Biscuit stories aren't intricate but they are beginning readers so they really aren't supposed to be. They are sweet and easy to read to a squirrelly three-year-old who can feel competent as he chimes in to familiar sentences.

This little girl could not possibly have been more than five. It made me wonder what her bookshelf at home looks like... What else does her mother consider twaddle?

I can't argue that Biscuit books will go down in history as some of the greatest-ever contributions to children's literature, but I will happily allow my children to enjoy them for as long as they'd like.

Do you know Biscuit? Is my pointed disdain for Barbie books the same as this girl's mother calling Biscuit twaddle?

Please discuss!

Also, twaddle, I kind of like that word. I'm quite certain I'd never typed it before today.

My Children Are Not in This Post...

-but my siblings are!

For some reason I have posted very little about any of the fun things we've done this summer (outside of my brother's wedding, and the usual, local stuff). Have I mentioned the fact that I spent not a single June weekend at home?

I think I was feeling a little extra, I don't know, cautious (?) about advertising our various trips away from home. Because so many of you readers are likely to run over and steal our one or two valuable possessions when we flee the coop?

Anyway, we've had a lot of good times this year and I wanted to share some of them before September descends, and then it will be holiday time, and before you know it we'll be taking NEXT summer's trips... ahem.

Back in June Matt and I were fortunate enough (let's here it for in-laws!) to attend my cousin Andrew's wedding in Wisconsin - without the children. There were various reasons for going child-free, one of them being the 10 or so hour drive we had to make on Friday, then again on Sunday.

One of the best parts of the weekend was having time with my siblings and all of our significant others...

I'm related to the blond people.

Here are Andrew and Marika leaving the ceremony:

At the reception, my sister and I got in some good time with our goddaughters. For several years we were the only four female grandchildren out of twenty. Now there are twenty-one grandchildren and five are girls. (Quick rundown of the family history - two boy grandchildren were born, then me, then my sister, then 12 boys, then Nicole was born 18 years to the day after my sister, then Natalie came along, then two more boys, then the youngest, Nora, who is younger than my son Michael. Got that?)

I think my eyes get progressively squinty-er as the night went on - due to excessive drinking dancing.

Aw - it's my mom and dad! You know what's great about having a wedding reception in the hotel you are staying in? Dad can run to the room and put his jeans on after dinner. We're classy like that in Wisconsin... some situations just call for party pants.

The other nice thing about the reception location = hotel was that Matt (who planned on driving Sunday) could choose to go back to the room and sleep after the reception, while I took the party bus with my dad (and assorted other family members) to a college bar to keep the dancing going into the next day. True story. I totally forgot that I am in my mid-thirties, and no one told my dad he's going to be 60 this year, we just kept right up with the young whippersnappers.

The above picture might be my favorite of the entire weekend - the bride, post-post-reception bar run, ordering pizza from their college after-bar hangout. And in case you're curious, yes I also had a slice at about 1:30 in the morning. It was great fun!

(It was less fun when Matt woke me up at 5:25 a.m. later that morning and asked me if I could sleep in the car while he drove.)

My liver respectfully requests that we bring the children to most future weddings and act in a manner more becoming for people of our age...

End of the Summer

Whew - every time I sit down to post these days I can't believe how much time has slipped away. When the summer began I was nervous about how we would get through all of these unstructured days but we've been so busy that the handful of unstructured days we've had have felt like pleasant little breaks (well, except for the many many minutes my kids spend screaming at each other and refusing to clean up their messes).

Tomorrow we begin two more weeks of swimming lessons for Harper (four for Michael, but he only goes twice per week). The week Harper's swimming ends, school beings!

So I'm spending the next two weeks gathering and filling out forms, getting doctors' signatures, labeling supplies, etc., as well as spending plenty of time shuttling kids to swimming lessons, parks, the library, and maybe one more zoo trip.

Is your summer going out with a bang or a whimper?

Readers, Opinions Please!

Hi all! We spent the last week on vacation and it was so incredibly relaxing - I read almost four books last week, FOUR! It was the first time in, let's see, about 6.5 years, that we've been on a vacation that really, truly felt like a vacation. For those of you with children still under age three, the future is bright my friends! Someday you will again be able to read a book next to the pool - while your children swim.

Between the week actually on vacation, and the many, many hours in the car, I had lots of time to read this past week - I did not want to be caught without a book. I had six books with me on vacation, four of which were hardcover books from the library. Lugging the books to Wisconsin and back had me thinking that perhaps a Kindle wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

Then I read that, by the end of the year, you'll be able to check out some library books on a Kindle.This had been one of my major reasons for resisting the Kindle so far, no library books.

Then my sister's boyfriend gave her a Kindle for her birthday on Friday (Happy birthday, Shannon!) and I might have a little bit of Kindle envy.

So, I'm wondering, do I really want a Kindle?

My mother-in-law gave me hers to borrow for a bit, read a book on, see if I like using it... which is a good first step.

What do you all think of e-readers? Do you have one? Do you love it? Have your kids smeared chocolate all over it or thrown up on it yet?

I don't really plan on totally abandoning the traditional book format just yet (or ever), but it seems that having a Kindle might have some perks.

If you DO have an e-reader, how do you use it? How do you decided which books to buy in which format?


I keep mentioning a Kindle, because from what I've seen that really is the friendliest device for book reading, which is why I would want to own one...

Thoughts?

BTW, if you're interested, here are my thoughts about Kindle from two years ago, imbedded in an interview by my friend Erin... I pretty much stand by those sentiments, although these days I might be more inclined to encourage someone to give me a Kindle - 35 is a big birthday after all.

The Library

I'm too lazy to look it up, but I am positive I have mentioned, on many occasions, how much I love our local library system.

Our local library branch has been a godsend this summer. When the times/dates of the summer library programs were published I sat down immediately and placed them on our calendar. We've attended story times, craft days, puppet shows, a Ronald McDonald show, live animal demonstrations... Harper's even taken a bubble-ology class which was a great introduction to the scientific process.  We've been at our library two or more times a week every week since June 1st. In addition to all the great programming we've checked out tons of books and a few CDs and DVDs as well. In the past I've laughed about the 50-item limit on my library card, but this summer we've come close to hitting that limit several times.

Harper and Michael have enjoyed tracking their reading for summer reading club - I often hear one of them call to me, "Mom, start your timer!" I've also been reading library books for the adult summer reading club and I feel like I need to remark again on the marvel that is the automated library request system! When I'm chasing the kids around the library I don't always have time to look for my own books. I have as much fun browsing the online catalog as I do browsing at Amazon.com. How great is it to just click a button and a few days later the book I want is sitting on a shelf, waiting for me?  LOVE. I appreciate this service in a whole new way since having children.

Twice in the last couple of years I have submitted requests for books that I was looking to check out, but the library didn't already have. Both times the books were ordered and set aside for me to check out first after they came in and were processed. Now there's some customer service!

Another really wonderful thing about our library right now is that the children's librarian at our branch is on the current Caldecott committee. Once a month she has a special read aloud time when children can explore some of the contenders for the 2012 Caldecott Medal and share their opinions - Miss Pat has assured them that she is taking their feedback into consideration as she prepares to make her recommendations to the committee. So, in a small way, my children can feel like they are a part of this year's selection process - they may not appreciate it now, but it will be really fun to see if the winner is a book that they enjoyed with Miss Pat this year.

I know that not every community has a library system as well supported or active as ours, but if you haven't done so yet, I really encourage you to see what your local library has to offer. As the school year concluded this I was seriously concerned that we'd drive each other crazy this summer and I am not sure I can fully express my gratitude for all the library has given us to do.

In a couple of weeks we'll go to the summer reading wrap-up party. That afternoon my children might earn raffle prizes as a result of the time they spent reading this summer - I know they'd be excited to win, but I also know they've already been rewarded by all the great things our library has to offer.

*****

On another note, we run into friends nearly every time we set foot in the library, so not only does it offer great services, seeing so many people we know there makes me feel more connected to our community as a whole. We don't exactly live in a small town, but this summer our library visits have given me that nice small-town feeling. Now I just have to remember to brush my hair before we visit...

All Hours

My sleep has been really, really messed up this week.

One of the consequences of this was the fact that my alarm went off for AN HOUR this morning, while I had a very complicated Bourne-Identity-dream in which I could not get the beeping to stop. At one point, in the dream, I had something in my hand that wouldn't stop beeping (like Phoebe with the fire alarm) and I covertly deposited it in a coat pocket in a women's department store. Then I went out to the parking lot and stole a car with Matt Damon, but then something in the car started beeping. It was torture. I was really grateful when Matt (my husband, not Damon) came along and asked if I was ever getting up; that's when I realized I truly could make the beeping stop.

My sleeping is generally a little messed up anyway. I'm a night owl in a family of early risers and I find it nearly impossible to go to sleep before eleven. Usually it is closer to midnight and occasionally later than that. Which, as you can imagine, makes me a real peach when the kids get up at 6 or 6:30. Here's one of our dirty little family secrets - I don't always get up when the kids get up, especially in the summer. Often Matt will get them breakfast before he leaves for work and then they play or watch television until I manage to get out of bed - we live in a ranch and my door is open, so I can hear them, especially if there is a problem. All of this will shift a little when school starts again - I haven't driven through the car line in my pajamas, yet. Also, Harper is old enough to procure some types of breakfast for both of them and will often just do that if Matt is gone when they wake up - she often does this without even coming to see if I'm awake. Sad or awesome?

This year my "seasonal" (which are really year round) allergies have been worse than ever. I had been taking generic Zyrtec and it wasn't working as well as it used to. So this week I switched to generic Allegra. And it's sort of wonderful - my nose isn't running, I don't want to claw my eyes out! But there's one teeny, tiny side affect that I hadn't counted on... I can't sleep.

It isn't that I'm tired and I can't fall asleep, I don't even feel particularly tired. My eyes won't get droopy. Monday night/Tuesday morning I finally gave up and came out to the living room to watch a movie. On one hand, if I only slept two or three hours a night I could finally catch up on all your blogs and answer some email and label all those photos I've been meaning to get to... On the other hand, I'm pretty sure there would eventually be some less-than-ideal physiological consequences of not sleeping.

Do any of you have experience with this? I've not even been taking the Allegra for a week - maybe my body will adjust? Let's hope so, because being wide awake at 1:45 a.m. is really, really strange.

Just a Few More Wedding Photos

I'm guessing you've all moved on from thinking about my brother's wedding, but I had a few more pictures I wanted to share...

Here's one of Molly entering the church - while it is really an example of how terrible my camera was working in that lighting, I actually kind of love how it turned out...

I hadn't even talked about the special outfit Michael got for the wedding. I found it difficult to find something that would be comfortable for him to move around in and feel good in the heat. As it turned out, post-Easter sales were my friends. I even found him a cute little pair of plaid shoes on clearance at Target the day before the wedding. $3.24!

Jamie and Molly used a guest book with Scrabble tiles on the front (I should have taken a photo of that but I didn't even manage to sign it...) and a wedding theme was (sort of) born. Saying the wedding was scrabble themed might be a little too strong, but they did put Scrabble tiles on their cupcakes and used photos of Scrabble tiles as the table markers. It was subtle and very cute.

I loved the simplicity of their centerpieces - the room was sort of bright and airy and these hurricanes suited it well. I also really dislike sitting at a table trying to have a conversation when the centerpieces block my view of half the people I am sitting with. I loved this choice.

I don't post many full family photos here - partly because it is so difficult to get all four of us to smile/look at the camera at once - how people with more children do it I'll never know.

It's too bad the flowers are blocking my brother's face in this shot, but it was a sweet moment. My kids love their Aunt Molly, and their Uncle Jamie, too.

You can tell Michael had been dancing up a storm - he couldn't keep his shirt tucked in! I worried that he would be shy at the reception but he was a maniac (in a fun way) and lasted much further into the night than I'd expected.

I don't know if you can tell from this photo - but my mom's dress had kind of a lacy overlay on top - during the wedding mass Molly's bracelet got stuck on it in the middle of the Sign of Peace! Someone undid the clasp so it fell off her wrist, then I reached forward to untangle it from my mom's dress and held it until I had a chance to give it back to Molly after the ceremony. Most people in the church couldn't tell that had happened, but everyone in my row had to stifle giggles for several minutes.

I love when I look through wedding photos and everyone just looks happy! Molly and Jamie were beaming - and the flower girl wasn't having a bad time either. 

Since most of my extended family lives in Wisconsin and none of them live in Ohio, we decided to top off the weekend with an open house at our place on Sunday. We ended up having about 50 family members in and out in the late morning and early afternoon. We don't do a lot of hosting beyond having our own brother and sisters and parents here - so I was a little nervous. Fortunately things went really well and I loved being able to welcome aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents into our home. We were lucky the weather cooperated because it would have felt like a different event if we'd had everyone IN the house at once.

There were so many people at our house!

Overall the weekend was a huge success. I was so happy to share in Molly and Jamie's celebration and thrilled that Molly is officially a member of our family. 

Don't Send in the Clowns

I still have a few wedding things I'd like to share, but something happened this weekend that I want to post about while it is fresh in my mind.

If you know me on Facebook you may already have gotten the very short version of this story, feel free to skip ahead.

Harper had been invited to a birthday party for this past Sunday afternoon. We were sort of surprised to see the invitation because it was for a friend from preschool, someone we hadn't seen in over a year. I made the awkward phone call to RSVP which, for me, always entails asking about the food that would be served. As it turns out the birthday girl also has nut allergies - my initial reaction was that it would be the easiest birthday party ever, no need to worry about food. But then the mother went on to tell me where the cake was coming from - a local place that is not a nut free bakery. In fact, it was the same place that made the cupcakes for my brother's wedding. And we were told, very definitely, that the children should not eat those... Even the pretzels they served were a brand we NEVER buy because all the products have cross-contamination warnings on them. Everyone handles food allergies differently - and that alone is a topic that I could go on and on about. Fortunately this is NOT a post about Harper having a reaction to food at a party!

The birthday party was at a local park and the big entertainment was a clown/magician. Shortly after the party began, as most of the adults sat together under the picnic shelter, the children gathered in the grass to watch the magic show. A few minutes into the show, Harper was suddenly at my side, absolutely hysterical. She was sobbing and clinging to me and for what felt like a long time I could not, for the life of me, figure out what had happened. I worried that she'd been stung by a bee but I had no idea what she was saying.  She was causing such a ruckus that I ended up walking her away from the picnic shelter to try to help her calm down.

I finally figured out she wasn't hurt, but she was emphatic about not going back over to the magic show. After lots of calming I heard Harper say something about the clown/magician having peanut butter. I thought maybe the clown was using peanut butter as a magic word. Then Harper insisted the clown had a peanut butter sandwich - what place a peanut butter sandwich had in a magic act,  I couldn't imagine. Surely it wasn't a real peanut butter sandwich? Just then the father of the birthday girl approached us to see if we needed anything - he clarified for me that the clown did, in fact, have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Apparently the birthday girl, who is allergic to nuts, was asked to hold it at some point (And she did, and was fine, but yikes!).

After a little more conversation I realized that the clown had told the children that if they did or said a certain thing, she was going to open the sandwich and spray them with peanut butter!

Spray them with peanut butter.


Now, I am sure the clown never intended to actually spray peanut butter at the children, but I certainly understand why Harper reacted the way she did. Incidentally, aside from Harper and the birthday girl, there was another child at the party with nut allergies. While I realize the world is always going to have nuts in it, I'm thinking the clown may want to drop that bit from the magic act.

Once Harper calmed down and I promised to sit with her for the rest of the magic show (one of the other parents assured us the peanut butter portion was over). I was really, really proud of Harper for deciding to stay and have fun with her friends. If she had asked to leave (I mean after her initial panicked reaction) I probably would have taken her home.

As I sat with her in the grass, watching card tricks and appearing bunnies, I had to work pretty hard to hold back my own tears. I couldn't stop thinking about how terrified she must have been, thinking she could be sprayed with peanut butter at any moment, worrying she was about to have a reaction.

The rest of the afternoon passed without further incident - all's well that ends well I guess. And Harper did come home with some pretty awesome mermaid face paint:

Flower Girl Day, In Pictures

My grandmother, my mom's mom, made Kit a wedding day dress to "match" Harper. We kept her close for much of the special day. This is one of several pictures we took prior to the ceremony.

Kit was fortunate to have a turn holding the flowers. Lucky doll.

I loved Harper in the light through that window in St. Mary's Hall. My camera didn't quite work with me on this one, but I still love the idea of this picture, even I didn't capture the light very well.

You wouldn't know from this shot how insanely nervous she was... "What if someone trips Mom?"

Another pre-ceremony shot.

One of the photographers helped Harper use the professional camera to take a photo of Charlie; there is something about the positioning of her body in this shot that I love - a little professional.

Finally, entering the church! Someone at the back told us that Harper took his hand, looked at him, and said, "Charlie! Smile!"

After the ceremony I took one photo near the echo spot (UD folks know what I mean). She wasn't unhappy, just in need of sunglasses.

Harper and Kit were happy to pose for a few more shots, post wedding.

Testing out the dance floor and twirlability of her dress...

Harper enjoyed dancing with my cousin's daughter, Rebecca. (I realize the dance floor pictures are weirdly lit...)

She looked like a natural with the tambourine.

If you enlarge this picture, you'll get a pretty good idea of Harper's dance style! That is her serious dancing face.

Sooner or later even the flower girl is too pooped to party.

Harper took one last look at the dance floor while she waited for Matt to bring the car around. What a night!

The Rehearsal

I am just not quite sure how to talk about the wedding - I mean, it was my little brother's wedding - which feels/felt monumental to me in ways that it is unlikely to feel monumental to you. For example:

Those two groomsmen have been friends of my brother's since grade school. The taller one? I used to babysit him. It is kind of strange to look at that man and think about how I used to help him with his jammies and brush his teeth at bedtime!

 

The bride and groom managed to strike a nice tone between serious and not-too-serious. I'm impressed that Molly had the ribbon bouquet from her shower - I don't recall whether I had mine for my rehearsal or not...

Harper and Charlie (Molly's nephew) did a good job of being cute - which is really the only requirement for flower girls and ring bearers, right?

The highlight of the evening, for Harper, came after dinner when Molly gave her a gift - a white clutch with fabric flowers on it. Inside was a box of sparkling hair clips that Molly wore in her brother's wedding, passed along to Harper for the big day.

And speaking of hair - I am not sure you can see it, but Harper had two little pearls nestled in her hair for the rehearsal dinner. Those were hair pins that I wore in my hair for Erin's wedding. Not something special that anyone would notice, but it mattered to me that Harper could wear something I'd worn for another beautiful summer wedding.

Teaser

I know the flower girl isn't exactly the star of the wedding weekend... but nobody told my camera.