Summer

Somebody want to tell me where June went? Good grief - next week is the 4th of July for crying out loud!

We took Grace to a wedding this weekend. Clint's cousin got married, Maddie and Kenzie were going (Gracie's cousins) so, I decided to use the wedding as a little training time for Grace on how to behave in a church setting and also because I thought she would enjoy the reception afterward with the other girls. We left Annie at Ric and Bone's house, because I didn't want a bunch of people handling her after we'd just gotten over being sick. Shoulda left Grace there too! I suppose it was a good learning experience for her, being told to sit quietly in a pew (she didn't do that until I spanked her), being told to sit in a folding chair while waiting for the meal at the reception (not so much), and then whispering of course during the ceremony (Clint had to take her out) Oh yeah - and she pooped twice. Once at the ceremony and once at the reception. And then, of course, we couldn't get her to eat any of the reception food (although it was verrrry yummy! Hog roast and broccoli salad...to name my favorites) so she ate M&M's and Sprite. Yikes. I'm thinking there will be time enough to learn church behavior when she's 4 or 5, but, at 2.5, she's still a little low on the self-control level. I like that my Gracie girl is social and friendly and not exactly shy, but she sure does turn into a little livewire when we are around lots of people. We have a wedding to go to on August 8th (08.08.08!) and I'm pretty sure I'm leaving the BOTH of them with Grandma and Grandpa! I'd like to enjoy these things once in a while!

This weekend and this coming week too, we'll probably spend a lot of time with the cousins. They are spending a week with Clint's mom for VBS and I'm going to try and get them over them every chance I can. Grace loves playing with her cousins and as someone who never really developed close relationships with her extended family (with the exception of my Grandma Gilson) I want to encourage that as much as possible. I don't have any cousins on my dad's side of the family and all my cousins on my mom's side lived in Adrian while we were growing up and we just didn't visit that much. So, at Christmastime we get together and pretty much just look at each other or talk to our own siblings. Ha ha ~

On a side note - the song that was sung at the wedding on Saturday was "God Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts. Okay, maybe it's just me but I think that song is depressing! Why dwell on the rotten things that happened to get you where you are, rather than dwelling on all the happiness of the future you are beginning together? I thought it was sort of a downer, but not having ever gone through anything traumatic (romantic-wise) maybe I would feel differently if I had. Anywhoo - not my first choice, but also not my wedding :) To all of us who are married out there - aren't you soooo glad we're done with that?? All the planning and decorating and stress of a wedding? I commented to Clint on the way to the reception, "What happened to the good old days -on the prairie- when you decided to get married and then the next Sunday, you got married after the church service and had a potluck?" When did weddings become a billion dollar industry? And in retrospect - why didn't we do the potluck thing???? *Hee hee*