Happy Birthday, Christian!

We had so much fun celebrating Christian's 5th Birthday on Sunday! His party was at his pool and he invited the girls and a bunch of his friends from his school. Ava and Christian usually play together really well and have a ton of fun, but this time Ava was a little miffed when she found out that Christian really wasn't interested in hanging out with her. Ava's face in the picture above says it all! :) He wanted his friend from school to sit next to him instead of Ava and he spent most of his party playing with the boys from his class. If I remember correctly, Kindergarten was the start of "cooties" and "no boys allowed" and the "girls are gross" phase. Ava is going to have a hard time adjusting once she heads to kindergarten next year and realizes all of her boy friends are going to act the same way as Christian! :)

We are so happy to be a part of our godson's life and to be there to support him and share in his life's celebrations. Happy Birthday, Christian! We love you so much!

I love this picture! Boys will be boys... :)

Winnie the Pooh

When this Saturday provided us with a rare overcast day, Jason and I found the perfect opportunity to take Caitlin to see her first movie in the theater. Winnie the Pooh was only a little over an hour long, so we thought that she would be able to sit the whole way through. When we got into the theater, Caitlin didn't want to sit on either one of our laps, so I had to hold her seat down the entire time so that she didn't fold up like lawn chair! It was only upon exiting the theater after the movie was over, that we saw the booster seats the theater provides for small children... lesson learned.

Ava was an old pro and sat quietly through the entire movie- Caitlin, on the other hand, was very excited to be there and we had to continually remind her to whisper and stop kicking the chair in front of us. Lucky for us, most people in attendance were very understanding or under 4 feet tall :)

The girls' favorite part was the huge, yummy tub of popcorn. Of course, Ava and Caitlin had to hold their own buckets and Caitlin only spilled hers once- thank goodness they were refillable!

After a short walk to show Caitlin that we really could get more popcorn, she was able to sit through the rest of the movie uneventfully.

It was an adorable movie and we all had fun on family movie night~ I would say that Caitlin's first movie experience was a success!

Happy 1st Birthday, Bode!!

On Saturday, we went to celebrate Bode's first birthday. He was a social butterfly with all of his guests and loved showing off his newly learned walking skills! There was a bounce house and a swing set in the backyard for the bigger kids and even though it was one of the hottest days this summer, that is where Ava and Caitlin could be found for most of the party.

Since Jason and I met Bode on his first day in this world, it is extra special for us to watch him grow and reach each milestone.

Bode loved being the center of attention and was sooo excited about the cake!

With two little kids, it is really hard to get everyone to look at the camera!

This was the best I could do...

The only thing that could get Ava and Isa to come out of the bounce house was the promise of a juice box and... CAKE!!

Bode's party gave us a chance to catch up with friends who live on the other side of town...

... but, we would love to see them more often!

Caitlin went down the slide again, and again, and again, and... again

After playing in the hot sun, her face was almost the same shade as her shirt!

She stopped playing long enough to give a drive by hug and to eat a piece of cake!

After the other guests had left, we stayed to have dinner and spend some one on one time with the birthday boy. With all the pink in our house, I know Jason enjoyed having some guy time :) Is it any wonder why Uncle JJ is a favorite among all the kids?

Happy Birthday sweet Bode Adam~ We are so happy we were able to celebrate with you!

The Best Part about Baking

With all the blueberries we had on hand from Berry Patch Farms, we have been testing new recipes! We've had blueberry-orange muffins and blueberry pancakes, not to mention just chomping on fresh blueberries with every meal. Today we finished off the remainder of our stock with an ambitious white chocolate blueberry pie- ours did not turn out quite as pretty as the picture on the cover of the Pampered Chef cookbook, but it was definitely delicious!

Besides, with these cutie pies in the kitchen- who cares what the other pie looks like?

Daddy's Mini-Me

For a little while now, Caitlin has been in a Mommy-phase... and by a little while, I mean over the past year. This is not unusual, since she and I have gotten to spend a lot of quality time together while I'm at home.

However, I think we have turned a corner. This morning, she wanted to go to work with Daddy, she wanted to dress just like Daddy- she even got pretty upset when he had to leave for his meeting and she had to stay at home!

I know that it can be tough on Jason to work all day and come home and try to spend some time with Caitlin while I am getting dinner on the table and Caitlin is in her mommy-phase. But, based on today, this era is almost over- and trust me, when we hit the teenage years... Jason's time will come and his payback will be sweet :)

Blueberry Picking at Berry Patch Farms

Our favorite pumpkin patch, Berry Patch Farms, has a huge blueberry "patch" open to the public each summer where you can go and pick pounds of fresh blueberries. I thought the girls would love to see that you can get fresh produce other places besides Publix :)

Ava was really excited- she said that it felt like a secret garden underneath all the blueberry bushes.

It was a little unnerving at first- you could lose sight of the girls very easily...

Our next door neighbors went with us and they came prepared for the hot July sun in their cute hats! Megan loves blueberry pancakes, so she was determined to pick a lot of blueberries!

Michelle had Abby helping her pick blueberries- they made a good team. They ended up having the most in their bucket!

Caitlin in the background is sampling the blueberries that had fallen on the ground... sigh... At least these are fresh and aren't sprayed with any pesticides, so it's only dirt and bugs I have to worry about her eating :)

We were warned that there was poison ivy throughout the blueberry patch, so we all wore long pants and brought long sleeves to wear, but apparently we were the only ones concerned. Everyone else that was there picking blueberries was in tank tops and shorts!

Caitlin fluttered around helping everyone put blueberries in their bucket, but she had her arms full carrying her baby doll and didn't want to bother with her own bucket!

You can see the green ribbon on this bush- that meant that this bush had been checked and was clear of poison ivy.

The sun was very hot and the girls were over picking blueberries pretty quickly. Luckily, Berry Patch Farms has a great shaded playground for the kids to play on and cool off. Poor little Caitlin's face almost matches this swing! Thank goodness we had packed multiple juice boxes for everyone.

Of course, the tire swing is always fun! The girls begged me to keep spinning them around... and around... and around... and around... and around...

We can't wait for cooler weather and pumpkin season so we can go back and visit again!!

92 Years Young...

My grandmother turned 92 today! She didn't want anyone to make a fuss over her, and she didn't want anyone to go out of their way to do anything for her birthday, but let's be honest- any birthday over the age of 90 is cause for celebration, right!?! Besides, who's going to turn down cake?

Grandma has had a few health issues this past year, but I am so glad she is well enough to come over to our house to celebrate! She is getting stronger by the day and hopefully we will share many more cakes with her.

We even had a neighborhood fireworks display for her birthday! The July 4th weekend brought nasty weather for Atlanta this year and many firework displays got postponed until the next evening. We went out on the driveway to join our neighbors with sparklers and poppers. I knew they would both be a big hit with the girls, but I had no idea that Grandma would want to play to! :) I love this picture of her throwing the poppers on the driveway... I can only hope that I am as strong and independent as she is at 92.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!!

Lauri & Marc's Magical Wedding Weekend

This weekend Jason and I headed downtown for Lauri and Marc's wedding. We left Ava and Caitlin home in the capable hands of Nonna and Grandpa Steve while we went and partied all weekend... Even with two nights of more uninterrupted sleep than we are used to, it was an action packed, fun-filled weekend and we came back happily exhausted!

We started the festivities off with the bridesmaids luncheon at the Swan Coach House. The Swan House is the quintessential southern tradition for a bridal luncheon- all we needed was a mint julep to go with our cheese straws :) The luncheon was relaxing and the chicken salad was delicious- it was the perfect way to spend some time with just the girls and to kick off the weekend!

After the luncheon, we headed to check-in to our rooms at The Grand Hyatt and check out the hospitality room. Since there were many guests from out of town and quite a few from as far as England, there was a suite available all weekend dedicated to feeding the wedding guests at the hotel 24/7!

Lauri and her soon-to-be sister-in-law Sara were mingling and entertaining all the family that had flown in from England

Of course, Allie didn't want to miss out and was helping play hostess in the hospitality room...

Then we headed out to the pool to soak up a few more minutes of sun before getting ready for the rehearsal dinner.

Marc and some of his groomsmen were already out there with the same idea...

no nerves or cold feet for this groom!

A quick rehearsal was held in the library before we headed off to dinner. Adhering to tradition, Lauri carried a bouquet during the rehearsal made from all the ribbons and bows from the gifts she received at her wedding shower.

Lauri looked absolutely gorgeous in her dress, but my favorite part was...

... her shoes!

The rehearsal dinner was held at Maggiano's. All of those huge platters of pasta were just torture to all of us having to fit into bridesmaid dresses the next day!

So, instead we just filled up on wine :)

After a tear-jerker of a slide show, came the toasts- some hilarious, some embarrassing, but most sentimental. The one unifying theme, threaded through all of them was that Marc and Lauri are kind, loyal, generous and loving people that are perfect for each other. I hope they took a moment that night to enjoy being completely surrounded by people that loved them.

Of course, I had to include a picture with my honorary dad! Lauri has let me borrow him since our sixth grade spring break in Destin. He and Mrs. Rainbow have given me many typical parental lectures (no talking to boys!), fed me hundreds of meals and sheltered me for tons of sleep-overs. Hopefully both her parents know by now how much those years meant to me!

The almost-new Rainbow-Teitelman family couldn't look happier...

Marc celebrating with two of his groomsmen- Joey and Joe

I'm not sure if it was the sun or the beer that is helping out his color... :)

On the morning of the wedding, we started early with hair and make-up in the bridal suite. Lauri was incredibly calm and the whole atmosphere in the room was relaxed. We had music playing, lots of time to hang out and of course a tray of sweets from the hospitality suite to keep us all happy!

Jennifer, Julia and I were showing off our newly done hair and make-up... all we needed was our bridesmaid dresses and we were ready to go! Seriously, is there anything better than having someone else do your hair and makeup??

Lauri and her mom both looked gorgeous!

Lauri looked stunning to begin with, but then she put on her wedding dress and she was absolutely breathtaking...

Mr. and Mrs. Rainbow both looked fabulous and were such gracious hosts all weekend. Together with Lauri, they put so much effort and thought into every little detail of the wedding and it was obvious! Every aspect was amazing- from the centerpieces, to the lighting, to the place cards, to the menu, to the hospitality bags... I definitely think that if they wanted to make a business out of wedding planning they would be incredibly successful!

It was really fun running into old friends from high school at the wedding...

Abby was often part of our spring break trips to Destin!

My hottie husband looked especially handsome in his tux and he was the perfect dance partner- we had so much fun spinning, swirling and twirling all over the dance floor!

Introducing, Mr. and Mrs. Teitelman!!

After Lauri and Marc danced their first dance, the father-daughter and mother-son dance, the party really got started!! Rupert's Orchestra kept everyone dancing all night long. I didn't even leave the dance floor long enough to get a bite of the wedding cake- and anyone that knows me, knows that I never pass up on cake! :)

I had so much fun celebrating this weekend with these girls!

We stayed long past when the band stopped playing. The hotel staff was beginning to break the ballroom down and essentially kicked us out. And even then, we didn't want the party to stop- so we all headed up to the hospitality room to continue the celebration...

What else could top off an already perfect day? Cookie cake, of course! Lauri and I have a tradition of celebrating everything with cookie cake that goes many, many years back... and I wasn't going to skip out on this one! Jason was so awesome to pick this up, track down Lauri's wedding planner during the wedding to let him hand deliver the cookie cake to Marc and Lauri's room. Sharing the cookie cake almost made up for missing out on the wedding cake... almost...

Congratulations Marc and Lauri!! Jason and I were so honored to be a part of this magical weekend. We could not be happier for you and wish you many, many years of love and laughter... We hope your fairy tale never ends!

Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life,

Love gives us a fairy tale...