Technical Difficulties

I have not fallen off the face of the earth again. This time my blogging slump has been entirely out of my hands and imposed on me by my computer. It stopped working Tuesday morning. Turns out it's just the power source, which is an easy and inexpensive fix, but Mark's been working crazy hours to make up for the time off last week, so he hasn't been able to get it done. If everything goes well, we should be up and running again tomorrow! I'm at my parent's house today for a little BBQ action, so I thought I would hop onto their computer for a minute and let you all know where I've been. Also....if you've sent me an email and are wondering why I haven't responded, now you know the answer. I have too many to try and catch up today at my parent's house, but I'll be right on it tomorrow. Or Sunday. Have a great weekend, everyone!

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Catch-Up List

So much has happened while I have been away from the blog, that I think the best way for me to catch you up is with a list. I can't possibly write a lengthy, descriptive post about each and every event, nor would you want me to. There was too much. So without further ado....

1. Elijah started AWANA Cubbies and Preschool in the course of about 12 hours. He basically slept in between. Cubbies was touch and go the first night (but he's settled in now and looks forward to it), but preschool has been his favorite place to be since day 1. He has new songs to sing for me every day and homework to finish every week. He even got to do a book order from Scholastic (remember those?!), which made me feel very nostalgic for my old school days. We have books coming out our ears around here, but I had to order a few any way (and can you really ever have too many books?). He has his first field trip this Thursday, and Mark is going to get to take him on it. He's excited.

2. Micah and I have been loving the time when Elijah has been at school. We've rarely gotten to spend any time just the two of us, and it's been such a joy. Having just one child a few hours a week has made it so much easier to get a few errands run and Micah has loved all of the attention he's been getting from Mommy. We've made it to the park and to the mall (last minute wedding stuff to get) and even to Krispy Kreme (but don't tell Elijah!).

3. Speaking of Micah, he is now officially 2! We celebrated in style on both Friday and Saturday the weekend before the wedding. Honestly, between my birthday, Micah's birthday and the wedding, I have consumed a lifetime's worth of cake in the last couple of weeks. Not that I'm complaining.

4. Mark and I have officially been married for 6 years. We celebrated with some reality television and Baja Fresh after the kids went to bed. And they say romance is dead....

Truthfully, it is very romantic that Mark was understanding about all of the wedding/birthday craziness and was not at all offended that our anniversary needed to be low-key this year.

5. The rehearsal and dinner were super fun. The restaurant was gorgeous and the food was amazing. My brother has the funniest friends and Kayla has the sweetest friends. I don't remember the last time I've laughed so hard.

6. My spa day was A-MAY-ZING! We got manicures and facials, and my eyebrows were whipped into shape. Then we went to Pastini for lunch, where I enjoyed Prosecco and Tiramisu. Yum, Yum!

7. My Grandma, who I haven't seen in nearly two years (I've written about her before on this blog. She has recently been battling cancer) made it up for the wedding! She's still here and I'm looking forward to getting to spend some more time with her just relaxing.

8. My Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Jerry and cousin Rachael were here for the wedding also, along with Rachael's husband Nick and son Zech, whom I'd never met. It was so good to see all of them, and we even got to enjoy breakfast together the morning after the wedding. Zech is about 8 months older than Elijah, and it was so fun to see the three boys together.

9. There were many more family and friends at the wedding that I could make a list of, but I won't bore you that way. Suffice it to say....I am blessed with way too many amazing people in my life. I was blown away by the number of hugs and smiles I got to receive this weekend.

10. I came home from the present opening/luncheon on Saturday evening and put on my pajamas. I am still in them. Don't get me wrong...I've showered. But the pajamas have gone right back on. Truth is...I'm feeling a little run down. Sore throat and sniffly nose. I'm taking my vitamin C and my Zinc, hoping to nip this in the bud, but if I'm going to get sick, better now than a week ago. Plus, I've been burning the candle at both ends so badly, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if my body's gonna give out on me for a few days. I think it's earned the rest.

So with that, you're caught up (I think). I wish I could convey every wonderful detail of every wonderful moment from the past week and a half. It's been chaotic and crazy, but it has been utterly delightful. I won't lie to you, though, I'm ready for the mundane.

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Mr. and Mrs.

I was so certain I was going to cry at the wedding. There was no doubt in my mind. People cry at weddings, though, so I wasn't worried about it until I realized I had left my waterproof mascara at home. It would not have been cute to stand in front of everyone, reading the Holy Word of God with black streaks down my cheeks.

But I didn't cry. For one thing, Pastor Glenn, the officiant (and executive pastor of my home church), was hilarious. He had us all laughing. I was also a little bit distracted by nerves, wondering if my boys would actually walk down the aisle without fussing or stopping to play with one of the candles lining the path. So I made it through the wedding without shedding a tear. It was beautiful, and the weather was perfect. The sun set during the ceremony and you would see the brilliant orange of the sky through Kayla's veil as she stood with her groom. It was all breathtaking.

The reception was amazing. I saw family and friends that I hadn't seen in years. I was able to spend time catching up, looking at pictures and hearing stories. As I type this, I'm amazed at what a blessing it was to see these people. My brother's best man, Troy, has been his best friend since second grade, and he gave a very funny, and very sweet speech. He confessed to me later that he was really choked up. Kayla's sister Jill, her matron of honor, also gave a funny and lovely speech, followed by Kayla's dad, Rich. You could tell as he spoke that it was tough for him to keep from crying, also.

Once all of the formalities had been taken care of (speeches, cake cutting, first dance, father/daughter dance), it was time to really celebrate. The music changed from romantic and light to fun and funky. The dance floor filled up with people of all ages (including my parents!) and no one cared whether we looked cool or not. We were just celebrating and having fun! At this point I got to catch up with so many of Kevin's friends that I remembered from when he was younger but hadn't seen in ages. They are all so funny!

The event was perfect, down to the sparklers we waived high in the night as Kevin and Kayla ran under them to their waiting limo. And I never cried.

Until yesterday.

The family got together with the bride and groom for lunch and present opening at Kayla's parent's house. I had only been there a few minutes, and had just settled down with my plate of food and soda, when Kevin came to sit beside me. It was then that I saw it. He was wearing his wedding band. I hadn't noticed it the night before, and even if I had, it would have made sense to me in the context of the wedding. It took me by surprise to see him in his shorts and shirt, casual as can be, sporting a lovely band on his left hand, third finger. He was married. He hadn't just had a wedding. He was Kayla's husband. He was a grown man. Finally the tears came.

I only have one sibling. There were certainly times growing up that I wish I had had more. Particularly a sister. Now that I'm older, I realize the treasure of it being just Kevin and I. We are that much more special to each other because it is just the two of us kids. He is the only brother I will ever watch get married. Kayla is the only woman who will ever take on my maiden name (which, by the way, is McCain. Seriously. She became a McCain during this election season). Kevin could not have chosen better for himself. Kayla is a wonderful woman and I love that she is now my sister. The tears came yesterday out of so many emotions. Sadness, that he is no longer the twerp that used to annoy my friends when I had sleep overs. Joy, that he is no longer the twerp that used to annoy my friends when I had sleep overs. Love, because I love the man he's grown up to be and the woman he's chosen to be with. Excitement, thinking ahead to the life they are going to share and all of the blessings they have ahead of them, and Praise, for a God who has blessed me beyond measure by giving me the sister I always wanted.

They are in Mexico now, enjoying their honeymoon. They deserve so much! Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. McCain! I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for you!

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Happy Birthday!

Apparently I share my birthday with the world's oldest man. He turns 113 today. I am not turning 113, but I am turning 33 today. I will be at the spa all day, enjoying my day and getting primped and polished (and my eyebrows waxed, hallelujah!) for the wedding. Because the wedding....

it's tomorrow!! How did that happen so fast?! The rehearsal and dinner were last night and they were super fun. I can't wait for tomorrow. But for today....

Happy Birthday to me and the 113 year old man.

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Good thing I'm getting them waxed before the wedding!

My eyebrows are the bane of my existence. I am a brunette, so you can see every stray hair that needs tweezing. To make matters worse, I have particularly tricky eyebrows. All of the out of place hairs like to hide in the follicles and all jump back out at once, like it's a surprise party. "Surprise! You have an event to go to tonight and no time to tweeze, but here we are! All of your unsightly extraneous eyebrow hairs! Here to make it look like you have shrubbery growing above your eyes!" My girlfriends who are blond can not relate to my eyebrow issues. These are the same friends of mine who can't figure out why anyone would ever need to shave their legs above the knees.

You want to know why blonds have more fun? They don't have to spend all of their time removing unwanted hair.

So last night, as I sat near the window to put on my make-up (tip for the day....put on your make-up in natural light. The lighting in your bathroom is not your friend, ladies), I noticed that my eyebrows had become caterpillars overnight. This would not have been a problem had I been able to find my tweezers! I searched high and low with no success. They had wandered off. I was forced to go to Elijah's first AWANA night ungroomed. I survived, but I was not happy about it.

So this morning, as I got up in the middle of the night bright and early to start getting things ready for Elijah's first day of school, I was distracted by my lost tweezers and unkempt brows. I was also irritated that I was going to have to spend money on a new pair of tweezers. I decided to say a prayer, asking God to guide my search for my missing tweezers. I confessed my vanity and asked Him to forgive my preoccupation with my eyebrows, but asked that there was any way in His will for me to find my tweezers, would He please allow it. You know what? He did! I found them literally seconds after finishing my prayer. I was able to pluck and tweeze my brows into shape, giving me the confidence I needed to face my Elijah's first day of school.

Apparently God not only knows the number of hairs on my head, He knows the number of hairs on my face and He agreed with me that there were too many.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31

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Feverish Pace

Things ramping up to the wedding have reached a feverish pace. The wedding itself is enough to keep us occupied, but September was already a hectic month for us without a major event like this. Elijah starts AWANA tonight and preschool in the morning. Micah's birthday is Thursday and mine is next Thursday, so this weekend we have two double birthday celebrations going on. Sunday is Mark's and my 6th wedding anniversary and next week is rehearsal dinner, spa day, lots of family I haven't seen in ages coming to town and oh, yeah....the wedding itself.

Add in there a doctor's appointment for Micah, my Summer women's bible study wrapping up and the Fall study kicking off, our small group Bible study kicking off, a women's ministry team meeting and all the day-to-day like laundry, groceries, balancing checkbooks, cooking meals, cleaning toilets, changing diapers....

And there is little time for blogging. I have written entire posts before about my issues with being this busy. I would never have chosen this many major events happening in the space of 2-3 weeks, but it is what it is. It will be fun, it will be exhausting and I will tell you all about it. When it's over.

I may throw in a post here and there if I find I have something to say that just can't wait, but I'm pretty sure you're not going to be hearing much out of me until sometime after the 19th. See you then! Happy Fall, everyone!

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E-R

No, I am not referring to the show that is starting it's final season soon. I am also not about to tell you that one of my children ended up in the emergency room this weekend.

No, what those two little letters represent to me are a time of year. The months that end in "er". September, October, November, December. My favorite. The weather cools, the colors change, the school books are opened and the holidays are celebrated.

This year is particularly exciting for me (among many reasons), because Elijah starts preschool next week. Tomorrow night I have my parent orientation, and when Mark asked me what I would like ironed, it took me several minutes to decide. This is a very momentous occasion, after all. I am now the mother of a student. Yes, he is a student of finger painting and snack time, but he is a student, none-the-less. The truth is, the preschool is an extension of our church and a lot of his little buddies from Sunday school will be there. I know the teachers well already because they grace the pews with me on Sunday mornings, but I am still looking forward to referring to them as "Teacher Sue" and Teacher Kiersten".

The big disappointment for me, however, was that I did not need to take Elijah to Target with a school supply list to buy him glue sticks and safety scissors. There is something about seeing aisles and aisles of pencils and protractors that make me want to buy some of everything. I love back to school time! I just haven't been able to go back to school in over a decade (wow....I'm older than I realized). Finally I was ready to live vicariously through my son, only to find in his "Kids of the Harvest" preschool packet that the only thing he would be needing for his supplies was a ten dollar bill turned into the school at the beginning of the year. Bummer. I wanted to load him up with pink pearl erasers and a Trapper Keeper. Possibly a pink one with a unicorn on the front. Just what every little boy wants.

Maybe I'll get one for myself.

You know, to keep all of my Bible study notes and prayer requests organized.

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