Trick or Treat

Reese won 3rd place in the Downtown costume contest. Based on the look on her face she feels robbed. She won first place last year. The cat in the background won 1st place.

Jude the Train Conductor won 2nd place. His brother Abe is a veterinarian.

Aidan, Cordano, and Reese checking out the candy.

Tessa

Abe the Veterinarian

One cool dinosaur.

Daryl and Reese at the New Life Church Halloween Trunk or Treat night.

One more hayride for us.

Reese gets her candy bag ready for Trunk or Treat.

UMMM, candy.

A Dinosaur, Payne Stewart and The Phantom of The Opera were playing Foosball...

Sounds like a joke? Oh, it was real.

Our friends Jeremy and Andrea Yoder had a Halloween party at their loft and the Gourleys dressed for the occasion. I had to explain to Aidan who I was dressed as which made me feel about 90 years old.

Pumpkin Patch Part 2

Our second trip to the Pumpkin Patch. This time we went with our Downtown Mom's group. The weather was perfect and all seemed well until the yellow school buses pulled up. Nothing freaks me out more than bus loads of kids dressed in the same colored t-shirt (read: field trip). I start to sweat at just the thought of these million little turkeys mingling with my two little turkeys. Please understand that it is not that I don't want my kids to have fun with these field trippers, it just means that there are about 100 kids that my kids can get lost amongst. It's always my luck that my kids will be wearing the same colored t-shirt. Excuse the pumpkin patch pun, but my kids turn into a needle in a haystack!



My first hayride, I know another shocker.

We ran into Aidan's friend Max and his dad (my friend) Jason. Oana and her boys Mateo and Niko with Aidan on the hayride.


My very fashionable friend Evie and her son Noah, doesn't she look glamorous for a hayride? I love her style. An updo and a checkered shirt. Love it.

Reese did not enjoy the slide this visit.

Argh, Matey! Noah the pirate.

Reese is back to get the jewels out of the treasure chest.

Aidan loved the pirate ship. He was sending people off the plank! Argh!

What exactly is the big deal about Trader Joe's?

I still don't know. I've been hearing about this magical place for a few years, I've driven by it several times and yet somehow I have never been there.

Until a few weeks ago...

On an outing with Evie, she mentioned that she needed to go to Trader Joe's and asked me if I wanted to go with her. Sure, why not. Afterall, here was my chance to see what all the fuss is about. I was a little excited and thought it would change my life.

Upon entry I found the cutest little grocery carts for kids. I didn't have a shopping agenda, so I thought it would be fun and harmless to let Aidan & Reese use the mini-carts while Evie shopped. I snapped some photos and was so thrilled with my decision - they were so cute and were having so much fun! BIG MISTAKE!

The cuteness lasted all of 2 minutes. I spent the rest of our trip chasing after each of them (who were both going in different directions), making sure they didn't crash into the ankles of old ladies and removing the items that Aidan was putting in his cart - because he was ready to shop. They both bought pumpkins and we waited in the entrance for Evie to finish her shopping list.

I know everyone loves this place, but I don't think we will be going back anytime soon. Oh, and the aforementioned pumpkins molded in less than two days. Like I said before, what is the big deal?

The Pumpkin Patch Part 1

I can remember seeing photos of my friend Jen C-K's younger brother Mack at a pumpkin patch when I was a teenager and I thought - what's cuter than a kid next to a bunch of pumpkins? I couldn't wait to have my own kids to prop them next to a pumpkin and SNAP... Here are my photos...




Reese loves cows. She has a stuffed one that I got her in Milwaukee that she named "Moo." This guy looks just like Moo.

GOONIES!!!!



What a difference a year makes. This is Reese and Aidan 2009.


Here's the photo from 2008.

Touch and Go...

Reese's favorite character is Cinderella and she carries this 3" Cinderella figurine around with her. While playing at Evie's house Reese broke out into hysterics. It might come as quite a shock, but my children are very over dramatic. I went over to Reese to find out what the problem was she showed me Cinderella in one hand and Cinderella's head in the other hand. Reese was beside herself and I told her I would see what I could do and that I was sorry for her loss. I put Cinderella and her head in a ziplock baggie and purchased superglue on my way home. Cinderella reported for surgery later that evening.

Cinderella pre-op.

Dr. Mom post-op. I superglued my finger to Cinderella during the procedure.

Oh crap, now what? I yelled to Daryl to bring me q-tips and nail polish remover - STAT!

Daryl assisted in trying to unfuse me from Cinderella. It took a long time and at one point a laughing Daryl gave up and left me to finish the job. If you've ever glued yourself to anything, you know that it hurts and that you cannot just pull your skin off or you will literally pull your skin off! I slowly tried to administer more nail polish remover while I continued to slowly peel my skin away. I started to panic because it didn't seem to be working.

After 30 minutes I was finally free from Cinderella.

As a result, my fingerprint is permanently on Cinderella's tush and I'm sure the remnants of superglue will come off my fingers over time.

Both Mom and Cinderella were expected to make a full recovery until Cinderella lost her head again this evening. I must replace Cinderella instead of further operations, next stop Ebay.

Here comes the bride...

I love everything about weddings. One of my favorite things is a fresh copy of Martha Stewart Wedding Magazine from the newsstand. I watch Who's Wedding is it Anyway, Platinum Weddings, and I follow several wedding/party themed blogs. If I could get married once a year, I would (don't worry, the groom would be the same, and yes it would still be Daryl).

I've been asked by one of my oldest friends, Jennifer to be her maid of honor and I could not be more thrilled. I love her and I am so excited that she is getting married. We've been trading emails back and forth with ideas and I am so happy to share my wedding wisdom with her. Planning a wedding can be one of the most exciting, overwhelming, and stressful things you will ever do and I hope I can help her navigate through the process.

I've been interning with a local event/wedding planning company for about a year and a half, and I was fortunate enough to be asked by several friends over the last several years to assist with their weddings in some aspect or another. Coordinating weddings is a passion of mine and I hope one day that I could make a living doing it, but for now I will continue to take each wedding as it comes. I treasure each wedding that a bride and groom invite me to be a part of. I hold the weddings of my dearest friends close to my heart. I was so thrilled to help them make their day a dream come true.

Coordinating a wedding is a lot of work but is totally worth it when you see a smiling bride and groom enjoying their wedding day. It pains me to attend a wedding as a guest if I see the bride talking to the caterer or having to remind the band to do something. That's my job and I always want to step in and make it right for her, but then I have to remind myself that I'm a guest and I keep my mouth shut and wait for my slice of cake.

I love to see each bride and groom make their wedding a reflection of them and I love when they bring something unique to their event. I can still taste the delicious Nutella that my friends Adam & Jen had as filling in their wedding cake, Holly & Andy had pumpkin Ravioli at their fall themed wedding, Susan & Tim had the most delicious macaroni and cheese and even had Halloween candy and costume props for their late October wedding. They all made it their own and I will always remember these special touches.

I can't wait to see how Jennifer's wedding will come together and then one day (very far in the future) I will be a mother of the bride and mother of the groom when it is Reese and Aidan's turn to get married. The wedding that I assisted at last weekend had so many fun aspects including a father-daughter dance that brought me to tears. I was only an assistant at this wedding, not the planner, so I had not met the bride and groom until they arrived at the reception, so there I was crying at a wedding where I did not know any of the people, I did not have an emotional investment in them, I was imagining what it would be like at Reese's wedding. The bride and her father joyfully danced to "My Girl." You could tell that they were close to each other and both were equally proud to be each other's father/daughter. It was a moment that I know they will both remember forever and I'm crying as I'm typing this (what's my problem?). I could picture Daryl dancing with Reese and the tears welled up in my eyes in front of all of these strangers. They had a slide show put together by the groom's brothers including embarrassing photos of the groom as a kid. It just reminded me that one day the photos that I'm taking now of my kids may show up on their wedding day. I should start thinking about what I might say in my speech at their wedding, but since that will be about 30 years from now, I should probably focus on what I will say at Jennifer's wedding first. Sometime in between Jennifer's wedding and Reese's wedding, my cousin Kelsey will get married too. More tears.

If I was crying at a stranger's wedding I can only imagine what I will be like at my best friend's wedding or at my daughter's wedding. Do they make waterproof mascara that actually works?