Wedding!!!!

Meghan got married today!!!! Very hard to believe one of the "little kids" as we called anyone younger than my brother is of that age, but there you have it. She was a gorgeous bride and from what I could tell in the audience the wedding went without a hitch. It was simple, and lovely, and fun. The weather cooperated in that the snow didn't start for anyone until they were pretty close to home, and the kids cooperated by taking a nap in the car. Henri enjoyed the ceremony considerably, but I think that was because Aunt Anna sat with us and let her play with her watch. Indeed, right before the wedding Hen told me, with a grumpy face, that she was "scared" (she still has trouble putting the right word to the emotion). I asked her why, and she said "because today isn't all about me!". Oooooh boy. We'd done a lot of talking beforehand about how it's Meg's special day, and also that Papa would be busy and not able to be with her constantly, and she handled not being queen bee pretty well. Hudson was awful, but there was a staircase in the back of the church that led to a balcony, so Steve let him roam and that kept him entertained (Steve too, haha). We took pictures in the church afterward and her photographer seemed really on top of his game (ie got everyone to line up and shut up fast) and then we headed to the reception. It was decorated with pine boughs and candles, and in the entry we were greeted with a favors table loaded down with pickles that Nate and Meghan had made for everyone; yum!

Lunch was a buffet of lasagna, salad and rolls. Overplanning food is clearly a Thompson trait. I had 10 (ten!) extra cakes left over from my wedding, and I have no idea how many lasagnas Meg had at the end of hers. Nate's mom made 100 pounds alone. I brought 2, and I know a few others brought some. What I'm saying is, I'm not eating for another month. I sampled a few different ones and they were all delicious. One of Meg's bridesmaids made her wedding cakes and I ended up with a "sampler plate" since there was no way I could make a decision; gingerbread with lemon curd, chai tea cake with cinnamon frosting, and a flourless chocolate cake with a cream cheese frosting. Can you say sugar bliss???? 

On penalty of death and disowning there was nothing done to the car, so the farewell was a bit subdued. I think the happy couple is planning to lie low for the next week, then take a proper honeymoon come the summer. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Brunk! And thanks for having us, it was wonderful. 

And now for the photos (I know that's all you care about, bet you skipped the whole top part. I would have, too!). A bit mixed up but I'm sure you can imagine the sequence:

She's still sulking a bit

He's got a hilarious "cheese" face he unleashes whenever he sees a camera

Papa is very funny

Just married

Advantage to a Christmas-time wedding, all the decor is taken care of!

Enjoying the festivities

I'm sure the professional got all of us in, Papa got cut out here....

I have another brother. Wow.

2 families united

Bridal party

Annie! Gorgeous as always

Cake cutting

She said she was hot in her dress, but it was about -79 today

Loved this of Mom and Meg

Anna making off with the pickles

She was finally getting chilled

Per the bride's request I made a few pans of the addicting apple bars for Nate. I had to make sure they were wedding-worthy before I brought them, though ;)

And here we are on the way. Totally random order to these, sorry

She looked gorgeous in her dress. And the veil just made it perfect (a gift from her MOH)

Waiting downstairs there was this great bug and sand table

Bridal party gifts; the pinecone earrings from Danforth Pewter. Love!

Meg and her MOH, "Aunt" Chelsea

Payte cut her hair and does she not suddenly look like my mom?!?!?? Crazy

The star of the show and the wanna-be

Hudson making another conquest of the older ladies. Note the child to the right; she and Hudson were making out under the table during the reception. My son likes 'em a bit more mature ;)

We sat in the back, so ceremony photos are a bit blurry. It was a lovely little chapel. 

The "peace dove". Guess it got put there a few years ago and it's stayed.

*Smooooch*

Papa and Aunt Sharon. 

Yes, there's a story behind this. But in the hearing of it I realized it's more of a "you had to be there" type of a thing.

The bridesmaids bouquets. 

Reception site

Christmas pickles. Can't wait to eat them.

Table decor

Cake. Or I should say "cakes" for of course there are three ;)

Soooo tasty. And who would have thought to combine gingerbread and lemon? It was my favorite.

I was happily clicking away when I realized the pastor was praying. Oops. But a good view of the room!

The only picture I got of Gram and it's blurry. But you can see the pretty bridesmaids dresses.

The amazing Anna

......and Allie. aaaaannnnd Siena. 

Selfies with the disco ball :D

He got in some snuggles with Gram. Then tried to rip out her earrings. Poor guy's been sick for the past week, I see an MD visit come Monday if he doesn't shape up fast. 

Making her getaway

No one's messing with this couple

Congratulations again Meghan and Nate!

Birthday Bash

Growing up, I never had to go to school on my birthday as it falls on vacation week. When I graduated and worked, I always took it off as well and enjoyed a day of freedom. Flash forward to 3+ years ago when I became a mom, and that all ended. The day was always sweetly marked, but the usual irritants of a "work day" remained. So this year I asked Steve to take off the morning, and he rose to the occasion by taking off the whole day. I purposed to do as I pleased, without worrying about inconveniencing anyone, and it was glorious. After the usual first nursing wake up of the morning I went back to sleep until almost 0830. And Henri made me breakfast in bed with her play food (she couldn't have been more excited if it was her own birthday; she was soooo sweet about making my day special!). We opened gifts and I was totally spoiled. Henri has been worrying about getting me a gift for the past month, and decided that I should have a golf set since we have so much fun whacking balls into the woods at my parents house. So she got me golf balls, and we'll have a good time with them this summer. If I can find them. Hudson claimed them pretty fast. I put Hud down for his nap then headed out, leaving a messy house, for coffee at Starbucks, an egg sandwich at Panera, and dress shopping for this weekend. Back home, we loaded up and headed to the mall so I could claim my gift from Steve, a new phone (yay, better pictures!) and treat the kids to Chik-fil-A. Dessert at Cheesecake Factory (the Godiva chocolate one, of course), then home for naps and playing with phone set up. I was going to head out to shop and have supper on my own but Allie and Siena surprised us with a visit. We had a great time chatting, and the kids had a blast showing off, and we decided to just order pizza. But then the kids went to bed and I still wanted to go out, so Steve and I ordered sushi and had a picnic in the car to eat it (don't worry, my brother-in-law is living with us for a bit, the kids were not abandoned!). I know this was tedious reading, but I want to remember it for next year because I can not emphasize enough how marvelously wonderful it was to flit about for the day without having to worry about carseats, or toileting others, or temper fits, or snacks, or doing dishes, or picking up, or anything. Thank you, Steve!
And here are the few, poorly composed shots I've taken since Tuesday:

Happy Birthday to meeeeeeee!

Books with Aunt Allie. And cooking with Siena (around the corner)

He loves the camera

Sushi!!! So delicious.

Pre-work singing with Sheffy. I'm sure he can't wait to get back to school, but it has been so nice to have him around. We're all going to be very sad come move-out day :/

And we were beyond honored to be little R's first (nonfamily) babysitters. It was actually rough as Hudson was having a bad day and R is off schedule, but by 8pm everyone was asleep (R in my arms) and Steve and I could take a breath. He's an adorable smoosh, and the kids had a great time playing with him again today when he came back over. Now to convince his folks to move back...

Another busy weekend coming up (just a reminder, Meg, you're getting married in less than 48 hours!!!) then we hit the post-holiday slump. I'm scheduling time to sit down with my new birthday pens and notepad and sketch out some intentions. I reviewed last years' and was 55% successful. Not too bad. I'll aim for 75% this year :)

Christmas week

It was a lovely Christmas at home. The kids enjoyed it, we kept things simple and relaxed (baked potatoes for the main meal!), and friends came over for the evening which kept us from getting sick of each other. Speaking of, while it's always lovely to spend time as a family, it's even more lovely to get back to a normal schedule, which we get to (briefly) do tomorrow. This means: CLEANING DAY!!!! Yay, I do love Mondays! Making it even better, I got a steam mop for Christmas from Steve. Buh-bye germs. Yes, I'm a nurse and mom, How could you tell? ;)
So, here's the past week from the phone:

This was actually a while ago, but I looooooooove my pho. Sheffie gave us a date night and we pigged out :)

Quick brag, Is our church not the most gorgeous you've ever seen? And did we not do a fantastic job of decorating yet again (yes, everything was handmade. We are incredible DIYers. After 6 years, we ought to be!)?

Chores

Dance party. Hud's into heels right now

Making gingerbread men with Dad for the neighbors

Hudson helping to "decorate" them 

Oh, you know, just a gift from our fabulous neighbors. That was 70+ Lindt truffles, folks. They continue to sustain my holiday sugar high

Every girls dream, a horse for Christmas :) Hud got a turn too

New crayons and coloring book in the stockings

Hen's been either on this, or playing with the train set they got. Success on getting stuff they really liked!

The Christmas gang. This was well after bedtime but both kids were awake. Should have let Hen get up....

Jesus's birthday cake. Strawberry. Denser than a brick. I've taken a vow to never make a layer cake again. Anyway, Hen decorated it, and it's supposed to be a squirrel

Take a wild guess who won (all) the games(s)?

Hudson finally settling down

My mop!

They all have on their "cheese" face :)

Saturday was a freakishly gorgeous days so we went on two of our favorite walking paths. Here's a sampling of all the sticks Hudson insisted we keep (any stick on the path, roots included, he tried to collect).

Then we went to Barnes and Noble for some brief browsing

I think we have a few more photos on the camera, and then this week is packed with plans; most important? My birthday. Also a New Years Eve gathering, a full day with our favorite neighbors ever, and...oh yeah, Meg's wedding. Also steam mopping :D

Adoration

We're in the midst of a very low key approach to Christmas. We've watched White Christmas, walked the neighborhood to look at lights, eaten tons of cookies at the church program, listened to Christmas music all day, opened the Advent calendar every day (chocolate coins inside this year), taken all the decorations off the tree (Hudson). My shopping was done a few weeks ago so now I just need to wrap the kids stuff, but I'll put that off till next week. I know all my relatives in VT don't want to hear this right now, but it doesn't feel the season with the warm weather we're having. And sadly it's slated to last through next week :/ But I know we'll have a fun day, and Henri is very excited for the planned festivities, especially the gifts :)
We've had pretty typical days the past month, but something that struck me this week is how much the kids play together. Like, 24/7. Hudson is much more into imaginative play than Hen was at this age and that puts them at a pretty even level right now. He loves all the dolls and takes very good care of his babies, and they both spend a ton of time concocting in their kitchen. And when that all gets boring, they chase each other through the house, over and over and over. Their friendship and love for each other is not something I take lightly, so I especially love this picture I caught last week:

He loves his "Nee". :)

November review

We got to head to my parents for Thanksgiving, and while it was a very small gathering for them (only 18) we had a wonderful time of relaxing and stuffing ourselves. As in, gained five pounds in one day. But it was good! My apologies to the relatives, we got not a single picture of the gathering. Not one of the table, the food, the kids in the snow. Nothing. We were too busy having fun. Keeping an eye on the weather, we left first thing on Wednesday morning. Not a single bit of trouble, zipped along until we got to the Robert Frost Trail. Steve had never walked it, and as Frost is his favorite poet, and we'd gotten such an early start it wasn't even lunch time, we decided to stretch our legs. Hudson proudly marched the entire mile under his own steam and LOVED it. Henri walked it too, but more because Hudson did. Girl does not enjoy her exercise. A few flakes were falling by the time we were finishing, so we booked it home, and as we pulled in it started to snow. A few hours later we had a ton and it stayed for the whole visit so the kids got to play and sled a lot. The cold doesn't seem to bother either of them.
We came back Saturday for a lot of prep for Sunday. Then after church and naps we went to Russo's and got our tree (it's a sacrilege to buy a non-VT tree, but we had no room to bring one home, *sniff*). So, that was our holiday. How was yours?

Lots of dress-up lately

We are never ever ever going to get a decent family picture. This was the best of the group.

Hudson got way too much attention with everyone telling him he was "adorable". I mean, he totally is, but he's been a bit unlivable since we've gotten home. And the hand is at the wrong angle, but there's a gorgeous ring on Meg's hand! :)

My beautiful baby sister. I get totally spoiled when we're home because Hen sleeps with Anna, and Anna does the morning with Hen. As Hudson slept in till 7 each day, this was luxury!

Lots of extra readers to keep Henri happy. 

He wasn't too impressed with the tree-cutting experience. With all the outdoor activity, and the running around the house, the kids were in bed by 6:30 every night. I can not begin to tell you how wonderful that was. 

Looking up to the house from the west field

Mt. Abe

The frost/snow crystals looked amazing on all the tall grasses in the fields.

Anna's first kill! :)

Our tree

Oh, he has loved the experience. We have lights on the tree. And two ornaments at the top. That's it. For one, we don't have a lot. For the real reason, Hudson stripped them all off in .000001 seconds. So I made a cranberry garland (giving up a valuable naptime slot) and he ate them. Raw cranberries. The kid who won't eat anything likes the bitterest food out there. I give up. 

Out of order now, but there's been some interesting fashion choices lately. Always a tutu. 

We had a gorgeous sunset not too long ago

My new mirror reflects the tree lights nicely

At 2130 on Sunday night I got the urge to decorate the outside. Which involved a lot of pine pitch and me tramping around in the snow in my flipflops. But I like the end result.

We're starting the New Testament in school and I didn't want Hen playing with my nativity set. $store had this great magnetic set! The kids are enjoying it. 

A semi-safe place to put up a few glass decorations. Though first day Hen pulled it down to see if she could. Rice in 3 rooms, I'm still finding grains

I think these are up high enough to prevent destruction. Love the Willow Tree collection

Sums up the kids personalities: Hudson nervous that he's being left behind or not touching Mom, Henri singing a made up song

A coordinating outfit! A true rarity these days

Henrietta took this and asked me to share it :)

I'm sure it's of little interest to others, but I need to sit down soon and give a summation of the kids. This was intended to be a bit of their baby book, and they've both sort of hit identifiable milestone/personality markers. I feel like we've been in transition for a long time, and now it's sort of stable. Which means it'll change soon. But I'm enjoying this time of set schedules and knowing what I can expect :) And I'm really enjoying this holiday season. I'm keeping plans to a minimum and not caring how many treats they get.