Bridal Shower

My sister is getting married, I just a couple weeks in fact. And we all know what comes with weddings.

Bridal showers. Lots of them. I think my sister had 7. Or maybe 8.

Luckily, as I am not particularly one to get super excited over weddings or anything wedding related, I was not asked to attend all seven, just two. One hosted by my cousin and aunts. Apparently it is "tradition" for your godmother to host your bridal shower...who knew? Also? If that's true, I am in trouble if I ever get married. My godmother is my aunt (ex-aunt?) who used to be arrived to my uncle (my dad's brother), who isn't anymore. She is sweet, but also...eclectic. And I can't imagine her attending a bridal shower, let alone hosting one.

But my sister's godmother is quite lovely (also, normal) and hosted a lovely shower for my sister. Complete with take home recipe books that she collected from guests prior to the shower (although not from me, I totally spaced out and forgot to send her anything...whoops). Luckily, my sister's other bridesmaids are much more into all things bride and wedding and put together a lovely shower for my sister.














Like I said, the wedding date is fast approaching, so there will be more wedding mania to come. Complete with photos of my dress. Which is taffeta. And fuschia. And has a flower on it.

And if the idea if me in that doesn't just make you beyond curious, then you clearly have no sense of humor.

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Crafty Tuesday: Gifts for Lily

My cousin and his wife have a lovely little family, that recently grew by one adorable tiny human.  They had their second baby, a girl.  And one of the best things about new people?  The opportunity to make baby gifts, of course! 

These are the things that I made for Miss Lily. 

I did some burp cloths:








An infant gown:


This was before I added the ribbon in the middle.  At first I thought that I would just leave it like this.  But I really think that the ribbon makes it just a little cuter...



(I don't know why it looks so stretched out in this picture - other than because it's just a quick snapshot with my iphone - in person it's a much more normal shape around the middle where the ribbon is...)



And a set of sibling shirts:






It had been a while since I had stitched a onesie, and I forgot how difficult they can be sometimes, due to their small size!  I also did this after I had spent many hours working on other things, so when the little mistakes happened on the butterfly I decided to keep going and just make it work.  I figured that tiny humans grow pretty fast, so I'm hoping that no one really notices my errors!

See what everyone else has to share for Crafty Tuesday at Carrie's!

Photo Thursday - Family Photos: Ashley

Just before Christmas, I did some family photos for my coworker Ashley and her trio of handsome men!  Ashley's first session was about 17 months ago -- and things have changed a little since then!

Photo Thursday -- Engagement Session

Just before Thanksgiving, my sister got engaged.  She and her lovely fiance Kevin asked me to do some engagement photos over Christmas.  They didn't turn out too badly, if I do say so myself!

Photo Thursday -- Baptism

The day after my aunt threw a Star Wars birthday extravaganza, my cousin and his wife had their baby baptized while we were all in St. Louis. It was a very lovely little ceremony, and the priest who did it turned out to be the same be who married my parents 34 years ago!  It was an extremely quick trip for me -- I think that I was to STL and back in about 24 hours -- but well worth it!

My mom and Cara

Cara and her Grandpa

Cara and her Grandparents

All of the family at the baptism

The last two photos are probably my favorite from the entire weekend:

Cara and her Uncle Patrick

Cara Jane

Roller Derby

One of my cousins does (plays?) roller derby. If it weren't for her, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have the first clue about it. Well, mostly I still have no idea about it. But I have been to a roller derby match (game?) to watch her. I went once in St. Louis, and then again in Kansas City when she called to tell me she would be in town for one night to play.

If you haven't ever been to roller derby, I assure you it is QUITE the experience. While I still have absolutely NO idea what the rules are, it was still pretty entertaining to watch. Let me tell you, there are plenty of opportunities to people watch at an event like that!

I also made my friend come with me -- I figured that roller derby is an experience that everyone should have at least once. She agreed -- and brought her kids and husband along for the fun!








I'm pretty sure that any baby that can sleep through roller derby is a keeper...it is a very LOUD event!

Time For A Vacation

A week or so ago, I took some vacation time and escaped to the lake for a few days. My parents and sisters do not live in the same place that I do, but the lake makes for a nice meeting point, as it is an equal distance from my parents' house and mine.

We went while pretty much the entire country was immersed in hell in the middle of a heat wave, so we didn't spend too much time outside. I am pale as a ghost on the fair side in terms of skin, so I usually don't go out in the sun too often. But when it feels like 107 outside, the only way to cool off is in a pool, even if it's just for a few minutes...

My mom.



One of the few pictures of me. Proof that I was actually there...



My sisters got these hideous special sunglasses. Nice, no?



My sisters and my dad.



It would probably be better if I had put in the shot of the water splashing, but oh well...it's harder than you think to keep a camera away from splashing water when the person jumping in is a grown up!

Lacrosse

I moved away from St Louis when I went to college, but most of my family still lives there. There have been a few visits from my parents or my sisters in the years that I have lived away from home, but not too many -- since I go home on the holidays that I am not working, I haven't had too many visitors. Which is not a woe is me thing, it's really just fact.

But my youngest cousin was in town a few weeks ago to play in a lacrosse tournament. Since the team only drove up for the day on the bus, most of the families (including my aunt and uncle) didn't make the trip -- not that I blame them, driving four hours each way to watch some lacrosse games doesn't sound too fun to me either. I was working all weekend, but luckily one of the games started at 3, so I could go before I had to head back to work...after all, I couldn't pass up the chance to see someone who actually came to where I live (even if it was only for a few hours!)


The pups were VERY excited that I not only woke up much earlier than I normally do, but that they actually got to go with me on a little car trip. And the weather outside was GORGEOUS!










And this is my absolute favorite picture from the game:


If you look closely, you can see the facial expression of the other player (in the white shirt), who is being slammed squarely in the gut by my cousin's lacrosse stick. Hey, sometimes agressiveness runs in the family...