Where Did the Weekend Go??

Little turtle meets big turtle...

This weekend was a fun one in our house, but a big one too!  Saturday we endured the heat and tornado warnings by going to the splash pad for awhile with Ava and my Mom and Dad, who came  up for the weekend. Just to be clear, we went to the splash pad before the tornado warnings, not after :)  It was a wild weather day with horrible humidity and strong storms, followed by a cool rain and more storms.  Sounds like summer to me!  

Since she was wearing her turtle swimsuit, we thought it would be fitting to introduce her to the giant turtle she usually ignores :)  Although she looks shell-shocked (ha ha ha, no pun intended!) she did love sitting on him and getting sprayed by the water he was "spitting" out!  Travis was really sweet to spend most of the time in the water with her and let me sit and watch with my parents.  She is getting so brave and big, but she's fearless and a constant amount of work right now!  

You cannot leave her alone for a second in the water :) Lucky for both us, Daddy was right there to help!  

When we got home, the grill master in our house got right to work grilling up his latest specialty, corn on the cob!  

Doesn't that look amazing??  It was!  We have a little farmer's stand really close to us and we've been buying lots of fresh produce lately and throwing it on the grill.  One of our neighbors showed us a great way to grill corn on the cob and Travis has gotten really good at it this week! 

We both love corn on the cob, but now we love it grilled so much better.  I think it's the perfect summer meal, but what else can you expect a girl from Iowa to say???

The big part of our weekend came this morning when we all got to listen to Travis preach in "big church!"  My parents came up to hear him too and we had a wonderful time.  

I will fully admit that I am nothing but biased and non-objective, but I think he did a great job and I was very, very proud of him.  I was able to go to both services and hear him, which was a fun treat.  He just amazes me in so many ways and I love to hear him teach the Word.  It's so very rewarding to see how God has orchestrated our world to bring us to this season in our lives.  From the handsome, young Bible study leader I fell in love with to a handsome Pastor with (almost) 2 kids, it's crazy to think about how our life has changed over the years!  I'm so thankful for my husband and so proud of him.  For our family members who are interested, you can hear and see the video of him on our Church website in a few days when they get it uploaded.  It's worth the watch :) 

I also happen to know that this little girl is very proud and thankful for her Daddy!  

She tells me everyday when her eyes sparkle and dance at the sight of him walking in the front door...

Now this picture just cracks me up for so many reasons.  First of all, check out Travis in the background, patiently waiting to take pictures that I requested, despite the fact that he was tired and ready to change in to something more comfortable...what a good sport!  And of course, how could you miss the giant shot of Ava, who was desperately trying to grab my camera while I was turning it on!  Our life is so funny these days, full of all these everyday moments that make both of us laugh.  It's a wild ride being a parent!  

Finally this afternoon, we were able to hang with some friends and relax in their pool before we grilled out.  It was the perfect way to end a great weekend!

Ava was perfect, enjoying all the time we spent outside and in the water.

It was a great weekend but I cannot believe it's over already!  Our summer is just flying by and yet we are enjoying so much of it.  I LOVE summer and this one has been full of precious memories I've tucked away in my heart.   

Although I could elaborate more about that, I can hardly keep my eyes open tonight, so I'm off to bed!  

Hope you have a happy Monday!!

Muddled Musings

Sooooo, is it Friday yet???  I'm not entirely sure where this week went or how I somehow missed most of it, but I can't believe it's Thursday afternoon already!  I have been feverishly working today, trying to play "catch-up" in lots of different things.  Between the wedding last week and Trav's Mom being with us this week, I let a lot of things go and pile up, so now I am digging my way back out.  Thankfully, most of it is just paperwork and emails.  My house is in tact and my laundry caught up!  All is not lost :)

I don't even know where to start about what's been going on in our life for the last few days, so I'm just going to leave you a random list of information.  Because really, that's all I'm about to offer.  Miscellaneous information.  Nothing of value, nothing too serious.  Just words and pictures.  Take it or leave it, I won't be offended...

 #1- Have I introduced you yet to the new pianist in our home??

Do not be alarmed by her lack of clothing or her INCREDIBLE hairstyle.  

She is what some would call "wild" or as I like to think of it, "artistic."  

 

We've apparently instilled a healthy dose of confidence in her, as she often breaks out into spontaneous applause for...herself.  

 

Her methods are not standard, I think she's a little bored with "normalized piano playing."

She much prefers to stand or perform a little jig while she plays...I can't be sure.  

I don't like to stand in the way of her artistic license.

I do know she is quite good at standing on the bench rather than sitting on it.  I haven't researched it, but I'm thinking all childhood prodigies probably begin their careers from this position.  Right??

Again, I just stand back and watch the "greatness" that bangs oozes out of the keys on a daily basis.  

She can't be contained people.  She's got "music" that needs to be played!  

#2-There is a phenomenon that occurs after each visit that either of our parents make.  Apparently we don't buy a lot of snacks, because whenever Trav's Mom or my Dad come to visit, they come armed with bags and bags of snacks.  Chips, candy, pop, chocolate covered nuts...you name it, they bring it!  I'm glad to have it around while they are here, but the real danger begins as soon as they leave.  I believe the phenomenon is something like "You never know what you're missing til it's gone??"  As I type this, I am downing jumbo sized cheetos, drinking a sprite zero and munching on chocolate covered cashews.  And I'm doing it at a pace that would stun even those professional eaters that win those hot dog contests. I'm not going to lie, I feel a little out of control.  It's all coming back to me about why I don't buy this stuff to begin with!  If you see me in the next few days and I've got cheeto dust under my fingernails, or melted chocolate covered nuts in my purse, you'll know that you need to step in and help me.  

GET THESE SNACKS OUT OF HERE!!  I CANNOT BE TRUSTED!!

#3- I told Travis last night, I'm going to start praying for a wealthy benefactor to appear in my life, who would like to buy me a little flower shop and hire me to run it.  I've got several location possibilities, I just need someone who's got more money than I do.  And in this case, it wouldn't take much to achieve that! Ha Ha!!  Maybe it's because I'm in between 2 weddings, maybe it's because now would be the dumbest time to take on something of that magnitude, or maybe it's because I've always dreamed it, but I really want a cute little flower shop to work out of.  Nothing big, nothing fancy, just a little wedding shoppe.  You never know....

#4- Despite my best intentions, I have fallen behind greatly in my attempts to take a weekly preggo picture.  You know, like I did without fail for Ava??  I'm already dreaming up excuses and explanations for poor little Carter, and he's not even here yet!  Oh the guilt Motherhood brings...I did manage to make it to my 24 week OB appt., albeit 2 week late!  The good news is all is well, I passed my gluclose test and Carter seems to be growing just perfectly.  He's a busy boy, kicking me all day long now.  He especially comes to life around 9 or so at night.  It's our little bonding time I think :) Or, I suppose it could be the sugar induced rush from the bowl of ice-cream I'm usually eating...

#5-  I missed the ESPY awards last night which really bums me out.  I'm pretty sure I can watch the whole thing on espn.com, but I would have loved to have seen them live last night.  I wanted to see the feature on Ed Thomas' family, who are AMAZING, and I heard that UNI even got a special shout out and applause from Samuel L. Jackson!  Exciting stuff :)  I did get to go to a movie with Travis instead last night...along with 30 junior highers!  We saw "Despicable Me" which was very different, but in the end, very good.  It didn't get as many tears out of me as Toy Story 3 did on Monday night, but a few managed to slip out still.  Good grief, I thought I was going to lose it in Toy Story!  It was so cute, but so sentimental!!  I kept thinking Ava looked like the little girl from the daycare and it made me sad to think about the day she leaves, and we have to pack all her toys up.  At least she's making very good friends with them now....

I know this has been riveting...some would wonder why I would spend my time writing nothing when I could have been napping....but at least I made some attempt at a contribution to my blog for this week!  

Hope you are having a wonderful Thursday and are anticipating a fun Friday tomorrow!!  Just as soon as I put these cheetos up, I'll be heading to the kitchen to make dinner.  Sounds perfectly logical, right??

My Swagger Wagon...

We've had one of those "special" days when we've had to send both of our cars into our trusted mechanic's shop to get worked on.  Good times people, good times.  On the positive side, at least we discovered the issues before we were stranded somewhere or in worse shape, but as you can imagine, it's not been a stellar day for our bank account.  As I've pondered the depth of our car sorrows, I can't help but dream of a better day, a day when I might be lucky enough to roll in one of these....

Let me introduce you to the "Swagger Wagon"

Oh how my dreams have changed over the years...

Congratulations Skyler and Jared!!

On Saturday, I got to deliver flowers for Skyler and Jared's beautiful outdoor wedding!  It was a perfect, summer day and they were beaming as only newlyweds can.  I have LOVED working with Skyler and I'm so happy with how all of the flowers turned out.  It was a big wedding, but so very FUN too!!

Picture perfect Mr. and Mrs.

This was the wonderful color scheme that I got to work with!  When we first met, we settled on this bright and bold scheme and I'm so glad we did.  It was just gorgeous for a July wedding!

The handsome groom, Jared.  We coordinated his bout. with Skyler's bouquet.  I used a yellow calla lily and an orange spray rose.  Love the way it popped on his sand colored suit!

The beautiful bride, Skyler!  Who was being serenaded by her groom in this picture...is that sweet or what??  She wanted a mostly yellow bouquet with touches of orange.  

So, I used yellow calla lilies, yellow roses, orange/yellow combo roses, orange mini gerbera daisies, and lime green spider mums.  Bright, bold, and fun!

Oh and a few of those cute little kermit button mums too!

Now these darling girls, are just about the cutest bridesmaids I have ever seen!!  Can you believe those tangerine dresses and patterned shoes???  What a GREAT dress to work with!  We basically built the entire color scheme around these dresses and shoes and I LOVE the way it all came together.

The girls had multi-colored bouquets with yellow, orange, and touches of red, lime green and purple.  

So cute wrapped in the same tangerine ribbon.  That purple was just stunning in there with all of those bright colors!  I kept thinking of Hawaii while we were making these!

We used yellow roses, orange/yellow combo roses, mango mini callas, orange gerbera daisies, lime spider mums, red mini carns and purple lisianthus.  

And just look how beautiful those girls looked with all that color!!  

The guys wore these great sand colored suits with orange vests and ties.  We put Jared (the groom) in a yellow mini calla and the rest of the guys in mango mini callas.  Very citrus like, don't you think??  Is it any wonder I kept craving oranges all day???

A Mango mini calla and a kermit button mum make a simple but elegant bout.

The darling little ring bearer wore an orange mini gerbera daisy with a kermit button mum as well.  So cute!  Wish I had a picture of him, he was adorable in his little orange vest and tie!

Two of the sweetest parents on earth!  

The bride's parents.  

 

We chose a very simple and understated gardenia for Skyler's mom and a yellow rose with an orange spray rose for her dad.  I'm really happy with how their look came together.  I think I'm going to recommend gardenias for moms from now on.  It was a great way to put a corsage on a mother of the bride without it looking like she's going to prom.  Plus, they smell amazing!

 

These are corsages and bouts for the grandparents and below for a personal attendant.  These colors were so easy to work with, it was fun to make all of these.

 

This vase on the right, was a memorial arrangement for the platform of the gazebo.

Beautiful wedding party!  

Pretty gazebo.

We decided to do 4 spray arrangements instead of trying to swag a garland.  They wanted to highlight the gazebo, but not take away from the backdrop of the lake or the bridal party standing up there.  I think these achieved that!

The big moment!

Love those bright colors!!

They were married by Jared's dad, who is a Pastor.  Love that!

Inside the reception, this was the seating chart table.

These were on a dozen tables scattered throughout the room.

Aren't those yellow orchids great???

Really love when I get to do big, tall arrangements at a reception.  They make such an impact and aren't as expensive as one might think.  It just depends on what kind of flowers you use!

On a dozen more tables, we put these arrangements in bubble bowls.  

A nice contrast to the bigger, taller arrangements.

And on the rest of the tables, we used my cylinders wrapped in her tangerine ribbon.  

This was the pretty cake.

And the cute cake topper!  

I love every wedding I do and I always get to know each bride, so I'm always so happy to help them achieve the look of their dreams...But I have to say, this wedding was one of my absolute favorites because it was so happy and fun!!  What a dose of sunshine these girls were!!  Those dresses with the flowers and the green backdrop of the golf course....Makes me happy just looking at it all over again!!

Congratulations Skyler and Jared!  

It was a gorgeous day and we wish you many blessings for years to come in your marriage!!