Wedding Bliss

We ventured down to Montgomery, AL for my cousin's wedding last weekend. In addition to witnessing the nuptials, it was also a time to reconnect with extended family. It was like a mini family reunion. The kids were all asked to do a job for the ceremony, and they took their part very seriously. We spent the last two weeks shopping for appropriate clothing for the event, because as most of you know, my kids are more the "life clothes" kind of people than the "fancy clothes" kind. In the end, and after too many hours at the mall, they all found attire they were happy with. I had to shop in the men's department for Alex. His pant size is a 30 x 32! I absolutely cannot believe that! And Sophie ended up picking out an outfit from the ladies section. Another whammy! My kids are growing and doing and being and I love it!

The kids loved the wedding. Quite a departure from last year's viewing of my wedding video! Sophie said she wasn't sure any wedding could match this one. Pretty tall shoes to fill. I didn't include them, but Max took about 50 pictures of the food at the reception. It was incredible.

We convinced my cousin Joey, his wife, and 2 children to stop by our house on their way home to Rhode Island. We had a little down time hanging out with them. It was the perfect ending to a fabulous weekend.

The Rehearsal Dinner

Me with my cousin Becky (The bride -to -be)

John and Ella

My cousin James with his girlfriend Celina

Cousins Heather and Joey; Uncle John

Second cousins Charissa and James (Joey's kids)

Adorable Alex

Uncle Dave (father of the bride), Becky, and Dean (groom-to be)

Uncle Jerry (my mom's bother) giving one of his famously heart-felt speeches

Heather (sister of the bride)...laughing and being her beautiful self

My parents with John and the boys

The view from the balcony at The Capital City Club

My sister Molly with Sophie

Ella and James playing on the balcony

Mindy, Molly(my sister), Judy (my mom), Megan (my sister), and Mary( my aunt)

Molly, Aunt Mamie (mother of the bride), Megan, and Uncle Al

My mom and her sister Mamie

The Wedding

Max waiting to greet guests

Molly and Megan with the girls at their post...the guest book

Alex and John looking dapper and in charge of the music

The Bride and Groom

Checking Off Items On My Vision Board

We were anticipating a visit from a wonderful family this weekend, but at the last minute it didn't happen. We know these people are meant to be in our lives, so we'll keep that revolving door open hoping to catch them another time :)

Instead of moping about, we decided to get to work and scratch some things off our Vision Board...namely, flower and vegetable gardens. Yay Us!!!!


We (re: John) hauled 2 loads of Black Gold organic bulk planting mix to put in the gardens. Our neighbor generously let us use his pick-up pretty much the whole weekend. That my friends, was a lot of dirt!

We also decided to make the front of the raised bed stacked stone that we (re: Alex and Max) gathered from around our property.

The work was hard and very rewarding. We had a fabulous day. It ended with a bonfire, a little cold beer, music, and s'mores

Student Showcase

I have found the perfect place to teach and dance. I love being part of this vibrant community of dancers, artists and musicians sharing our passions and supporting our community. At the end of each session, we hold a showcase where the students are the performers. Every session, it grows and grows. We were at standing room only this time, and had a fabulous show. Cornelius started the show with his Lyrical Jazz Class, Hip Hop I and Hip Hop II; My classes followed with a combination performance of both level I and II; then Kofi finished the evening with his African Drumming class and follow up performance with some of his professional drumming group. Afterward, we celebrated with a potluck meal. I was too entranced to get any photos during the various performances, and had to make do with this photo after the show of some of my wonderful ladies.

Easter

We had the most fabulous Easter, spent with several families and a slew of kids. We did henna, hunted for eggs, ate incredible food, and drank incredible wine. I look forward to many more gatherings with this group of folks.

The Spread

The awesomeness of kids

The hostess with the mostess

More of the awesomely awesome kids

The grown-ups hanging out in the kitchen

Double Digits

Max turned 10 on April 8th. What an amazing child. I am so glad to be his mom and have him in my life.

Max's birth was different from all the rest. He's always been a mover.My midwives had moved from Augusta, GA to Asheville, NC. Even though it was over 4 hours away, we figured all would be well if they attended my birth. This would be my third birth with them, and none of my labors were less than 4 hours, so we were confident they would arrive and be present for the birth.

I had about one week left before my official 40 week mark of the pregnancy. I woke up in the middle of the night (around 1:00am) having had a dream I was punched in the stomach. I realized it might have been a contraction, and confirmed my suspicions with a bit of the cervical plug appearing. I woke John and told him I might be in labor. It never fails to amaze me that I could question whether or not I was in labor. But I did. I hadn't had another contraction. I was worried about calling the midwives and having them drive over 4 hours, and then it not be actual labor. John made me call anyway. When I called, they were up. They somehow knew I would be calling that night and had stayed up late to watch a movie and wait for my call. Have I mentioned how much I love my midwives? I told them I wasn't sure, and that I didn't want them to drive all that way for nothing, blah, blah, blah. Whapio said, "Mindy, our bags are already packed. We're leaving right now." As soon as she said they were leaving right then, I had another contraction, and it was a doosie. I knew I was in labor. Somehow, knowing they were on their way let my body relax enough to continue having contractions.

Labor set in pretty hard at that point. I was in my favorite gliding rocker, rocking with the contractions. Alex and Sophie were asleep in the next room. We didn't have a camera at that point, and I wanted to have pictures of the birth. I tried to persuade John to run down to the 24 hour drugstore and get a disposable camera. He kept gently trying to talk me out of it, reasoning that he was the only person in the house...what if the other kids woke up and needed someone? I relented and forgot about the camera. John was busy getting the crock pot filled with water and compresses. I began laboring heavily and told him to stop with the crock pot and join me. A couple more contractions, and I was in my usual birthing position on the floor, leaning over the sofa. At this point, an almost 4 year old Alex woke up and joined us. He was so sweet. It was amazing having him there. He kept saying, "Good job pushing that baby out Mommy." Max came quickly,and the midwives did not make it. He was born at 2:50, which means my entire labor lasted under 2 hours. Whew! As I said, he's always been a mover! We paged the midwives and they talked us through the immediates and continued on their way to us. When the arrived, all was well. Max weighed 9 lbs 10oz. He also suffered from a cephalahematoma, which sounds scary, looks scary, but is essentially a big ole' bruise on his head. He looked like ET for while, as it takes about 3 months to eventually go away. I remember always covering his head with blankets and what not so people wouldn't ask what was wrong with him. The hematoma faded, and his curls, sprinkles, and amazing personality emerged in it's wake.

1 year old Max with curls and his lamby

2 Year old Max with his favorite hand me down pink galoshes

3 year old Max with his new hair cut, his pokemon hat, and yes, he's still wearing the pink galoshes

5 year old Max...and his hat passion comes to life with this Greek fisherman's hat he found at a yard sale

6 year old Max with Mommy

8 year old Max hunting crystals with Madeline & Co.

9 year old Max

The newly 10 year old Max showing off his newest passion in the form of T-shirts...WoW

Doing the pinata with some neighbor friends

Max's Carrot Birthday Cake

Making Wishes