Me and my boy

Trapped...

...in my house. By a skunk. At this moment I have a car full of groceries that I cannot get to because a skunk is making him or herself comfortable RIGHT BY THE CAR.

*not actual skunk - ours looks much more fierce and grocery hungry*

Come on, skunk. I need to get the groceries in so I can go to bed.

Please?

Without a backward glance

And she's off!

The first day of school was yesterday and she was suuuper ready to go. When Curtis walked her into the school she took off for her classroom, taking the hand of the first responsible adult who offered, and didn't even give Curtis a backward glance.

Sigh.

I think that's good, actually. Confident and excited, that's how we like our kids.

I like this photo of her - I think she looks like she should be on the cover of a book: Kathryn Rice, Girl Detective.


I liked her little outfit - skirt and shirt from Grandma and Grandpa Rice, socks from Nain and Taid. Thanks for outfitting her, grandparents!

She already has a new best friend, Paige. I wish wish wish I had remembered to take the camera to the open house on Wednesday night to get a photo of those two, both in pink dresses and ponytails, arms around each other's waists, excited to get on the school bus for their test ride. It was beyond cute.

I think she's going to do just fine.

(By the way, Viv is doing fine with the adjustment so far- yesterday she said that, a) she was now the biggest girl at home, and b) Kathryn wasn't around to tell her what to do. Today she said she missed her, though, so we'll see.)

(Oh, and I'm doing fine with the adjustment as well - seriously. I still have plenty to keep me busy here.)

MOTW in words

I'm not going to bother to take a photo because the photo would not do justice to the ick that I am about to commence cleaning up.

I made some lovely soup for lunch, full of lovely things - bacon, broccoli, carrots, cheese, potatoes, corn, onions - and then I fed it to my kids. Good news - they loved it. Bad news - it is now all over my floor, table, chairs, high chair, the children - well, I did clean up the kids but the rest is now cold and congealed all over the place. Super!

Off to clean up...

and...the time surrounding the wedding

Evan and Jenni's wedding gave us an excuse to get the whole crew together and for several great days, it was All Family, All The Time.

Get ready: zillions of pictures ahead!

The Girls' Pack.

Owen still trying to pretend he's a bada$$ with Baby Bjorn and a pink blanket. Nice try. (At the cookout the night before the wedding.)

Jack making himself at home in Nain and Taid's fridge.

Joey, Asad and Sam at the cookout. (Sam is Mom's cousin Ann's grandson.)

Bree and Grace helping Katie cut rhubarb for a syrup for homemade soda. Yum!

A group shot of the mighty warriors who participated in the Inaugural Boffer Capture the Flag game. Xander made the weapons out of PVC pipe, pool noodles and duct tape. We had a great time!


Dad was...uhhh, super fierce. Can't you tell?

Not surprisingly, Owen made himself a special outfit for the event. As Katie put it on her FB comment, "Owen, you are a weirdo."

Asad teaching the cousins teaching the cousins a game they play in Afghanistan (it involves rolling a ball into a little hole in the dirt).

General hanging out on the porch.

S'mores.
Early morning blueberry picking at Jesse and Sherry's. It's hard to stop - they're just right there and so tasty!

Kathryn and Iris with flowers from the wedding on the porch.

Ethan and kids on the porch.

Kathryn and Bree playing with Barbies.

Wedding!!!

The lovely bride

I know it's been 13 days since I last posted, but we were gone for the wedding, then recovering from the wedding, dealing with children and so forth. Anywhoo, here we are!

The wedding was fantastic! Evan and Jenni went the unconventional route with a lot of things, which suited them perfectly. Everything was so lovely and it was so great to be around all of the family. All of the siblings and their families were in town from Utah, Oklahoma, NYC and Vermont, and those of us from Maine, as well as extended family and friends from Kansas, California, Germany and other places.

Thanks to Katie, Chell and Gwen for letting me use their photos (p.s. Gwen, can I use your photos? Thanks!).

So, here it is, Evan and Jenni, 2010, in photos!

Jenni right before the wedding. Too bad about the coolers in the background, huh? Her mom made the dress - so lovely.

During the ceremony, Isaac and Iris bringing up the rings. Vivian looked at the photo and said "I think Jack wants to help, too."
Curtis performed the ceremony and did a lovely job - in Maine, attorneys can peform weddings.




Betty conked out right before the ceremony.

(This is a little out of order.)

All the little nieces (with the exception of Cora May, who is only a few weeks old!) were the flower girls.

Cute little Josie.

The arbor in the back yard at Mom and Dad's.

A close up of the fabric flower garlands Jenni made and hung in the arbor.

Evan and Jenni right after the ceremony.

Sherry hanging decorations at Beaver Lodge the morning of the wedding. I love this photo!

Some of the centerpieces. Jenni's mom did all of the flowers, mostly with flowers she grew herself. She did SUCH a nice job!!
The hall at Beaver Lodge. I love how the banners turned out! (Please excuse me patting myself on my back...)

A shot of some of the potluck spread. I (ahem) made those pretty pies.

Sandwiches, individually wrapped with twine. So cute!! There was pulled pork with coleslaw, curried chicken salad, hummus with vegetables, BLTs and an awesome pressed sandwich with fresh mozzarella and salami.

The enormo-basket of cookies that we baked (and froze) a few weeks ago. There were little bags for guests to take cookies home as favors but I think a fair amount were consumed right then and there!

The best cake topper EVER. I am not a cake topper-type person, but I love this. Jenni's friend Kristen made it and I think she should go into business. You can't really see in this photo but it is really detailed.

The awesome cake table. The cakes (chocolate, spumoni, carrot, lemon, almond berry, coconut...ummmmm) were made by the bakery where Evan and Jenni work, Scratch Baking Co. in Portland.

Why did Mary get ALL the tall genes?! Sheesh.

Kaylee and Betty.
The first dance.

Ethan and Joey playing a bean bag toss game.

Jenni and Viv.

Evan doing his awesome I Am Stoked To Be Married To Jenni dance.

Curtis and Betty on the porch.

Viv and Kathryn. I know it looks like Vivian is yelling, but really she just kept her mouth open for reasons unknown, for all the pictures I took here. Annoying at the time, but she looks sort of cute...

Betty at this point was totally soaked with watermelon juice, as was I.

Curtis making sure none of the little ones fell off the docks.

It was so lovely and peaceful down by the water that a lot of people congregated there. Vivi just squeezed right in and made some new friends.

Jenni mingling.

Dex with his classic "huh?" face on the dance floor.

Apparently the dancing continued long after those of us with small children called it a night.

(p.s. Asad, the guy in the white pants and vest, was my parent's exchange student from Afghanistan two years ago. He had on the most Awesome of All Awesome belt buckles with this outfit - a big, shiny portrait of the Obama family. He bought it at a market it Kabul when he was last there. I wish I had taken a picture of it! Asad, if you're reading this, take a picture and send it to me! Please!)