Alabama Part II

Well I promised wedding pictures, so here I am to deliver. This wedding was nothing short of spectacular. Thank you to Meredith and Jacob for providing the perfect atmosphere for the Auchly clan to get completely out of control. Always a good time.

The ceremony was outside and it was absolutely beautiful...the weather, the attendants, the location, the bride, basically everything.  But I'll let you see for yourself....

In between the ceremony and the reception we took the opportunity to explore the premises a little bit. The kiddos promptly found their way to the water's edge...shocking.

Next we moved on to the dancing portion of the evening. I'll confess the battery on my flash went out towards the middle of the reception, otherwise I probably would have gotten even better dancing pictures because let me tell you there were some FABULOUS moves going on out on that dance floor. But these pictures will at least give you a flavor of the evening.

These two little boys were giving everyone a run for their money on the dance floor, something tells me there are weekly dance competitions held in their house.  You guys aren't fooling anyone!

Let's see, I have approximately 4 people that I know of that actually read this blog.  We will call them the "Super Readers".  Yes, I am related to all of them but that doesn't make them any less super.  Anyway, 3 of them were in attendance at the wedding this weekend and a little birdie told me that they would enjoy a Cameo on the blog.  So without further adieu here they are.  The three lovely ladies with the arrows from left to right...Laura, Jill and Leah.  Thanks for being consistent readers ladies, even on our most boring of days.

And this my friends is probably my favorite picture of the night.  This is "Super Reader" Jill at her finest,  challenging the bride on the dance floor. PRICELESS!

And finally, this picture almost brings a tear to my eye. As Chad's brother was taking this picture I couldn't help but wonder if this would be the last picture ever taken of our little family of 3 before Baby Brother gets here. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to be a family of four but it's almost like a chapter ending for me...and it was a great chapter.  Here's hoping our book only gets better! (And yes of course, the little prince refused to look at the camera.  Maybe Baby Brother will be more cooperative in that area!)

Alabama Part I

This past weekend we took a little trip to Alabama for Chad's cousin's wedding.  It was a large family affair that involved a party Friday night, a get together Saturday during the day, and then a wedding/reception Saturday night.  One word...EXHAUSTING!  But man can this family party.  The only thing that would have made it better is not being pregnant, but I guess this kid needs to cook a little while longer so I'll let it slide.  I'm only giving him a few more weeks though, and then he is being evicted!  Maybe they will re-do the wedding weekend for me?  Just a suggestion.

Anyway, I have decided to split this post in two because it didn't make sense to me to have people in swimsuits in one picture and then the next picture be a beautiful bride.  Call me anal, but it's my blog so I can do what I want!

First we will start with this handsome fellow.  And yes, for those of you that were in Alabama and saw my child I will confess that I did use my keen Photoshop skills to remove the scars that were a result of his father's lack of supervision!  Again, it's my blog I can do what I want!

Then we have this pretty little girl.  I will share with you some before and after pictures.  The first picture is before her parents made her get in the lake and the second picture is the result of said adventure!  Not a fan!

 

And finally we have a little hammock fun.  Try balancing three children on this thing I dare you!  Multiple times I thought Nolan was going to end up with some additional scars...good thing he was wearing his life jacket???

And that is it for this post...next up wedding pictures!  And maybe some fresh new faces to my blog!

Just Because

Just because....it makes me laugh every time he says "dear"
Just because....he uses this song as a stall tactic for bedtime because he knows I love it
Just because....I want to always remember how sweet he can be
Just because....it makes me smile
Just because....I bet it will make you smile too!

At it Again

We apparently can not keep Nolan away from the tools these days. All he ever wants to do is fix things, broken or not...it all needs fixing. His lawn mower should be about the most reliable machine on the block but for some reason it's always broken!

The Attack of the Ring Pop

We spent the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Struckmann's house last weekend, and as it turns out we weren't the only Struckmann clan that decided to crash the pool that day.  Something tells me this might be a regular occurrence this summer, sure hope they like the company!

These two cousins are basically inseparable when they are together, cute now...trouble later!

After we were done with our swimming, it was time to pack up and go home but not before a little afternoon snack.  Aunt Stephanie was nice enough to bring Ring Pops and Nolan and Reid were quick to indulge and get it all over them.  I'm not even sure these pictures do the blue mess justice, but you get the point.

My Baby Can Read!

I have often wondered about that infomercial for "Your Baby Can Read".  I mean who has seen that footage and not thought that there was a chance that they could in fact teach their 6 month old child to read?  I know I have, but then I quickly come to my senses and realize that children just have an amazing ability to memorize things (especially things you don't want them to!).

So no, Nolan is probably not reading this book (although his Grandma would probably argue that point with you).  It still amazes me nonetheless.  The book he is reading is "The Giving Tree."  This book was given to Nolan by my dear friend Julia, it was one of her favorites as a child and it is certainly a favorite in our house as well.  Nolan reads the first half of the book and then we take over from there.  I will spare you the entire book, because I assure you Chad can in fact read!

Big Helper

Last night we attempted to get some things done in "Baby Brother's Room." I'm not sure how we survived all these years without Big Brother's help "fick-n" things.  As soon as Chad said he was going to hang some pictures Nolan ran downstairs to get some tools of his own. He is always quick to tell us that he is "such a big helper." Maybe one day he will in fact be a big helper when it comes to fixing things around the house, but for now we just enjoy his plentiful imagination and the ever so colorful commentary that comes along with it!

Crib Graduation

If I was more computer savvy I would be streaming Pomp & Circumstance right now.  But I'm not, so you're going to have to hum it quietly to yourself as you view the next set of pictures.  We hit a big milestone in the Struckmann house last week and Nolan officially graduated from the crib to a "Big Boy Bed."  I can not lie, this was definitely a lot harder on his Mom then it seems to be on him.  I have dreaded this day for I don't know, 2.5 years now!  Something about having him in a cage was comforting to me.  Now I feel like all bets are off and I'm going to wake up one morning and he will be standing in the front lawn or something (yes these are actual thoughts that have crossed my mind).  It has been a solid week now and I am happy to report he is doing just fine in his big boy bed, has only gotten out once and he didn't end up on the front lawn!  

So here is how it all went down on his first night.  Dad read a book, I read a book, tucked him in, said our "amens" and we were out the door.  Sweet Success.  

The Year of the Lords?????

This past weekend we participated in the "Scally Olympics".  In years past I would more accurately describe this event as "Beer Olympics" but with the epidemic of pregnancies going on with this group there was a little less focus on drinking (for the girls at least) and a little more emphasis on the actual events (kind of).  We all look happy in the pictures, but don't be fooled.  There is a lot of trash talking involved leading up to the event and there are always multiple accusations of cheating (usually involving the Riffees, but I won't name any names).  All that really matters is that the Scally's don't win, as long as that tradition continues everyone is happy.  Did I just ruin the ending for you?

So here are the competitors.  Don't be mistaken, this is not a Francis Howell High School reunion.  We let a few outsiders in...for now.  We'll call this one "Band of Buds"...hopefully Budweiser will pick it up for their current campaign.  Personally I think we'd look great on a Billboard.

 This little collage is what I like to call "Never Again".

1.  Never Again will Amanda be the only girl drinking at Scally Olympics.
2.  Never again will Julia shoot a pistol while pregnant.
3.  Never again will I let someone take a picture of me while pregnant...let alone while holding a hatchet dangerously close to my head!
4.  Never again will the Blassie's go home with the first place trophy, hope you enjoyed it last year guys!

I call this "Desperation".  The last two events of the day "chug and swim" and the "canoe race" relied heavily on the males given the unfortunate state of the majority of girls.  You can see the boys were all up for the challenge and took their jobs very seriously...though some did better than others.  Have I mentioned yet in this post that Steve can't swim?  No relevance to the story really, just thought I'd add it in there for good measure. Steve is the very serious looking fellow in the blue hat.  Thank God he didn't fall out of the canoe, that could have gotten ugly.

The title of this next picture is simply "Tradition".  It wouldn't be a Scally Olympics if it didn't end with Chad in goggles looking for something at the bottom of the lake.  Please note two years ago it was his WEDDING RING, which we never did find.  This year it was my lens cap, also not recovered.  Oh Scally lake...we will get you one day.  

And finally I give you "Confusion".  Did the Lord's really win this year?  Jessie has always claimed she is not athletic because and I quote... "I have freakishly small feet for my height."  I can't make this stuff up people, for years that has been her claim.  Surely there was a mistake and the Struckmann's should have gone home with the trophy.  I think I'll take a closer look at the scoreboard and figure out where the cheating occurred this year.  Speaking of scoreboard I have attached it below for easy reference for next year...let the trash talking begin.