Christmas Eve

I'm not quite ready for these, but I have to post them, only because our anti-virus stuff has been finding crap like crazy and I'm very scared that if something does wreck this computer, these pictures will be lost forever. It hurts, still and I'm not quite sure if that will ever stop. But I do know for sure that I will regret it if we lose these. So....here.

{i did the table decor this year, and decided on a polar express theme. it was cute, railroad tracks stuck on garland, the train set and matching ornaments}

{the book was behind the caboose for the munchkins when they got bored}

{eddie loves playing the drums for rockband!}

{little munch had a turn too!}

{Michael and his Grandpa rockin' out. I think Jim may love this even more than the kids....}

{cousins at dinner....love them}

{a little christmas magic}

{the kiddos making reindeer food}

{they took this so seriously! i had cute little tags on the items too...oats for energy, cocoa (because chocolate makes everything better), sugar (but not too much, blitsen's on a diet), etc...it was cute and they loved it}

{a little in awe that the big man came}

{shelby}

{leah...her first time actually going to Santa! look at that cautious face...}

{finney refused to even have frankie put him down while Santa was in the room, lol}

{hi Ellie bean!}

{i mentioned it before, but Finn was a handful and a half. Frank was the only one to get him to sit...they sat for a long time, playing with the chocolates that Frank got in the white elephant exchange. Out of the bag, in the cup, over and over.}

{pruning was the girls' lesson of choice at Christmas eve, and here we are posing with Jamie's white elephant win...a framed Nelly poster, lol}

{these girls are besties! shelby and mikayla}

{some more heart wrenching ones from Frank and Finn's playtime...hugging the giant penguin that Finney loved}

{my love and I, one of my favorite pictures of us}

{the day was peaceful and lovely and we were all together. One last time, together.}

Keith and Erin's Wedding!!

Keith and Erin got married on New Year's Eve, which was so super fun. It was the best night just to hang out with our friends and dance the night away. Being the overzealous photog that I am, I pulled bridesmaid duties and snapped as many pictures as I could...here are some of my favorites!

{I did the flowers, simple and beautiful!}

{one of my favorite pictures ever}

{these crazy boys. Erin was up at the altar taking pictures, so they had to sneak Keith in. This is the obvious way to do that, right?}

{one of the mom corsages}

{the altar of the church was still decorated for Christmas and was soo beautiful, so the pine tied in nicely there. AND. I forgot the branches I was going to bring, so Erin and I totally ran into the neighbor's yard to cut some right off of a tree. Again, the obvious choice, right?}

{not the greatest picture, but I love the story behind it. While we were waiting downstairs for the ceremony to start, Erin updated her facebook status to "...bet you're all waiting to see me!" it was so cute.}

{the boys wore jerseys for the ceremony and erin put hers on when we left the church}

{girl picture in the dirty mirror! ha}

{damn boys were blowing up the place with these air horns, so i eventually confinscated them, haha}

{all my favorites from the cake smash!}

{haha, love this picture of keith during the speeches}

{first dance, aw}

{poor erin, terrified for the garter toss}

{aw, there we are! me and my love, close to midnight}

{things got a little loco from there....midnight happened and there was the balloon drop, dancing on tables, champagne everywhere. It was literally the most fun I've ever, ever had. I can't wait to share more crazy pictures from the photographer!}

{there's my hubby, closing down the dance floor, lol. Love it! Plus I love Erin's bustle here, too!}



I was so proud of my pictures, so many of them are favorites. It was such a fun and special day....every time I look through them I'm so thankful for our amazing friends. 

Love

Happy Valentine's Day, friends.

We are smiling, loving and eating sweets today. Finn has a new found love of chocolate, Eddie has declared his classmate Ada as his girlfriend (she is going to make me a golden hockey stick with glitter and stickers!!), and I'm smiling ear-to-ear at an 8 foot tall balloon bouquet after having requested a flower-less V-Day. I'm a little over roses and the smell of lilies for a while.

Eddie and I spent, no joke, almost an hour picking out the perfect watch for Frankie, one that you can see all of the gears (Eddie's choice) and a band that reminds me of his Dad (my choice). But oh, it was a process, one in which that was at the same time hilarious and frustrating, with Eddie requesting to see this watch and that one, only to hold it in his hands for a moment, turning it every which way and deciding that it wasn't the one. This watch thing, it was all his plan and apparently he had a very specific idea. It was cute, I suppose, in hindsight. Ha!

{the little chocolates that my mom sent over, which are the most chocolately chocolate ever. And they're big! Finn devoured his, happy as can be. Eddie declared it too sweet....which resulted in the below picture}

{hahahaahahaaha. May you Valentine's dates be as cute as mine and as happy as Finn with chocolate}

{the best solo picture of Finney Mac....he's fighting a cold and pink eye in both eyes, which is why he looks a little worse for the wear. Still cute, though!!}

Eddie is very over the camera lately, so no solo picture of him. Boo!

xoxo.

Chocolate Goatee

I know it's not Christmas pictures, but as a peace offering I present you with Finney's first chocolate doughnut goatee :)

{check out those baby blues! no editing necessary on those!}

so.

so. sigh. i suppose i should get started again. it's been a long time and we're already behind.

to put it out there, i'm avoiding posting our pictures from Christmas Eve. Its all very raw, too raw for me right now. On January 21, Frankie's dad died. Unexpectedly, an infection grew in his body, made him septic and he just couldn't fight. We had time to hope, time to pray and finally, time to say goodbye. I suppose we should be thankful for that. And I know, deep down, that we will always be thankful that we had Christmas.

I will never, ever forget Finn's out of controlness, and the way Frank Sr was the only one to get him to calm down and sit for a second. More than a second, really. They just sat and played, quietly with eachother. It was the best moment that Finn had ever had with Grandpa Frank, and I have to be thankful for that.

But, like I said. Too raw to type, too raw to post pictures. Over one hurdle today, maybe I'll cross the next tomorrow.