And so like sand through an hourglass…. oh wait… wasn’t that soap cancelled ages ago? Oh dear off topic and the blog entry has barely started!!!

Friday… what is there to say about Friday… well TONS! First off there was the getting up in the morning to small children running wild, Grandma cooking waffles (which were DELICIOUS), little boys cutting strawberries and the knowledge that at this point it would be GO GO GO. After a yummy breaky, dragging Ken out of bed to have a bite or two himself and a good bath in one of my favourite bathtubs it was time to face the reality – there were things to do and I needed to be organized enough to get them done! 

Breakfast at Grandma's

Ready for the day

The kids were content to run wild at Grandma’s and enjoy the sunshine, tv and other things… mom and I had to run to Walmart for various reasons and by the time we got back we had 2 guests… (he) Chris’ dad Dave AND a fellow gamer Jocelyn who is also American! She played on the same textual game (back in the 90’s) that Ken and I originally met on!! Though she hung out with different people. Now trust me – she is a TOTAL gem! Not afraid to step up and pitch in, and full of great ideas.  I don’t know what we would have done without her and a few other special people’s help. 

Friday morning was a lot of hurry up and wait. Chris and Chris were running behind schedule so they had dropped off Dave and Jocelyn before one was at the massage place and the other off to pick up Mae. In the meantime I had Cousin Veronika show up AND Karyn (two more people who went above and beyond to help with this event… I love you 2 so much!!!). Remember, Cousin Veronika was to do our make up – and trust me she is AMAZING!!! 

So we busied ourselves with making coffee and settling in our newcomers. Jocelyn spent the rest of the wedding time sleeping in a tent in the backyard (not the same one as the boys…), Karyn took the twins’ usual room at Grandma’s and Veronika shared with Emanuel (she got the single bed and he bedded down on the floor in the office room… which worked just fine for both of them thank goodness!). Full house with more to come that evening!! 

There was a new list to be made (did I mention Jocelyn likes lists? It IS the MacLean way to do things so Veronika and mom were right on board with that), well multiple really as there was a dinner that night for all involved in the decorating and general wedding chaos and then the last minute decorating needs… so we managed to get that pretty much done before (she) Chris even arrived with Mae.

As soon as (she) Chris and Mae arrived and (he) Chris and Dave were sent off with one list to get food for the evening bbq it was DRESS TIME! This included much groping off boobage to ensure a best fit (the brides boob shapers that were built into the dress needed to be removed), some sleeve discussion (Mae’s were a little too long so mom was there ready with pins, scissors and her machine to make pretty) and of course oohing and ahhing over the actual dresses themselves. There was some minor changes made to the back of the bride’s gown as well which were rather creative – the back is a lace up corset style but was using little metal bra hook style eyes and a thin cord for look which we simply did not trust with the amount of time she was going to be in it. So we took the cord the seamstress used as a tie and mom made that in to the loops and then raided her stash for a thicker but matching cord that even had TASSELS! Of course this meant mom was out of the running for the majority of the decorating and tied to her sewing machine for the afternoon.

Trying on the dress

We left Ken on his computer, mom on her machine and all the kids but Echo playing in the house to head over to the hall at this point – Echo was a lucky tag along. When we go to the hall there was much to do… sadly certain items did NOT make it there at the same time as us (for example my 62 bows were forgotten at mom’s and had to be gone back for) and the tableclothes were MIA until He Chris got there (which seemed  to take a long time but was dealt with in the end). We made a run to mom’s work to rent some lights and use Kristen’s lovely idea – totally try this at home – a string of lights of some sort (we used ones that were like a rope) with TULLE put over top of them – I am totally doing that for Christmas!!!

Once all the bits were collected for the centrepieces and Mae spent a massive amount of time gluing the bows onto the wine glasses and later helped with the filling of them – jelly stuff you get at Michaels with some red and clear gems She Chris got off of eBay and some black heart shaped confetti I found in a box at home (the Legion has a no confetti on the table policy) topped with a tea light I was VERY pleased!!! There were brandy glasses done the same way on the head table along with a lovely burgundy tablecloth and matching napkins to set the table even further apart.

The back of one of the table's centrepieces (taken on the day)

Again taken on the day - one of the brandy glasses

There were bells for ringing for kisses to be placed as well as the chocolates that the bride and groom made (though those were not QUITE completed for Friday… and had to be finished up that night around mom’s table). All in all the tables were lovely, even though the table number cards She Chris bought had two 3’s and no 2! (ACK thank goodness we had markers, masking tape and Mae).

Bell with Karyn's My Little Pony

The balloons we pre-ordered from the local party store were lovely and put to be at the front of the aisle for the ceremony. All the wedding colours were there – the red, black, gold and silver. (white and yellow in balloons) Very pretty!

And then for the stage where the DJ was – Veronika, Karyn and Jocelyn were very crafty and used some left over ribbons and cloth and made beautiful bows and swags. So many talented fingers and minds were involved!

Of course in the middle of all this we had to run off to stores – Walmart for some incidentals of a bridal nature, which meant SNACK TIME for a patient Echo…

FRIES

The dollar store for things for the evening BBQ… and then She Chris and Jocelyn stopped at the florist. We had a minor bridal meltdown when she was told she couldn’t see the flowers yet but that they would be burning the midnight oil to get them done. It took some calming her down but SERIOUSLY this is THE BEST flower place in  town. It is where basically everyone I know locally got their grad flowers (yourself included), my and my mom’s wedding flowers were done there… if they say they will be done and gorgeous – well they will be! At least then it came to light that She Chris thought that SHE would be picking up the flowers the next day — UH NO! So we made note (lists for the win) of where every flower was going and then made that an Usher job (thank you so much Ted and Sean!!!).

OH I forgot to mention that I have one of the best cousins EVER! There was a mix up with a bra pick up in the city that had me scurrying for a replacement and Veronika was the one who saved the day. I swear I got one of the LAST size mediums of my favourite Bravado brand nursing bra that was NOT white/ivory in the province!!! There is one store in the town she lives in that opened up before she was heading to mom’s. They had ONE left and it was a pretty pastel pink and now it is mine!! So if you notice in pictures a lovely pink bra under various shirts… well that is the new lovely Cousin delivered bra! Thank you sooooo much again Veronika!!

It was around 4:30/5 pm when we finally collected all the people (and children) needed for the rehearsal. The JP was not there (she was not paid to be or requested) so we were on our own. Thankfully mom and Veronika kicked everyone into a semblance of order and we were able to give it a good couple run throughs leaving the bride and groom happy with it all. This was my first time seeing He Chris’ brother in over 10 years actually and before that was only in passing anyway! (Sean… confused yet with TWO Seans – we called Sean the Usher OUR Sean for distinction purposes) The kids were rather well behaved though bored out of their minds and more than ready to head out to the promised Splash Park!!

Practice and you can see the balloons here

Sadly yours truly was not able to make it out there with way too much yet to be done at the hall and people to wrangle and a bride to keep relatively calm and in some semblance of organization (have I mentioned the anti list sentiments? Cuz until Friday there was tons but the lists prevailed thanks to myself and the other strong willed women in the group). BUT Ken and mom took the kids and the plural Chris’ dog Duke out to the local splash park (one of the best in the province) where all 5 of my kiddos got a chance to enjoy the water fun!

So glad I left some buckets in the van!

All 4 of the big ones

With Duke

Echo and the water

The hall was pretty much 80% done by the time we left and headed back to the house. At that point the kids were already back from the park and supper was under way (thanks to Ken on the bbq and mom manning the stove). We had more than enough for everyone and were joined by the MC Cam as well as the ushers (Ted and OUR Sean… they drove in after work and crashed in the basement for the night). Fat Sheep was ALSO in attendance… she came with Karyn and brought her party accessory as well – a lovely mob cap made by my mom.

The car was washed and cleaned up (mom’s summer convertible) and ready for decorating so we conscripted Ted, Sean and Jocelyn to finish fluffing the flowers to go on it.

Fluffers

There was a lovely sign mom made up to be tied on the back of the car which Ken took care of. Though I doubt we used up a third of the flowers that were bought. Thank goodness masking tape does not take the paint off cars (Mike contacted the dealership to be absolutely sure – smart man!). Oh and Mike’s bike cleaned to a shine as it was requested that the bride and groom take some pictures with it as well.

Sign on and ready to go

Flowers going on the car

After food was eaten and the table cleared the last push to wrap up the favour chocolates began… thankfully they were done around midnight and those who had to leave for bed went on their way. What a day! But the bride and groom seemed VERY satisfied.

Eating dinner before chocolates

With Jocelyn in the big tent, the twins in the little one, and everyone else bedded down where they either had a bed (Karyn and Veronika) or could find a comfy space (Sean, Ted and Emanuel) it was time to rest up for the busiest day of all.

Fat Sheep in her wedding splendour... early so as to be ready for the next day with minimum fuss

Well we are back from our 5 day adventure, weary, laundry burdened and thoroughly cranky but home! As it has been way too busy to share all at once it is going to take multiple updates before I catch up… perhaps some 2 post days? PHOTO heavy 2 post days I do believe. BUT time to get on with it, and with that I start at the beginning = THURSDAY…

In order to accommodate Ken working some Thursday AND gaming at night AND getting to Grandma’s BEFORE the wedding frenzy began we left for our 1 1/2 hour away destination (AKA the SHORT DRIVE of the almost full week away) earlier in the day. Well AFTER meeting with a Kijiji ad buyer and feeding everyone, cleaning the house and ensuring that the backyard was relatively clutter free (we DID run out of time before we could mow but no one is perfect and the lawn was not that bad). Of course there was time for a photo on the front lawn of the VERY excited children.

Ready to get in the van and get going... Emanuel is holding his picture for Grandma

Grandma had one last day of work before the wedding so we stopped by there to say hi (I ran in solo) and then headed ahead to her house. I figured that I needed some time out bonding with my new stroller so opted to walk BACK to her work which is a decent walk from the house. Of course with the stroller came Echo and with that excitement came Trinity and Emanuel who just HAD TO come along. After all we WERE going to find Grandma! How exciting! We had one turn back when silly Mommy realized that we had left WITHOUT diaper bag, sunglasses and a spare pull up… BAD Mommy! But after that we were ready to go. 

Ready to walk

We had to stop and admire the piggies on one of the nearby yards. Mom thinks they may have been pig farmers but are now retired. Trinity thought they were the cutest thing EVER and demanding pictures be taken. 

Piggies

After a victorious trek over the train tracks and down to Grandma’s work where toys were played with and much chatting and cooing over Echo done we headed to the nearest gas station to buy a treat for the hard working walkers and those we left behind. Of course, after opening the orange pop and using a straw we HAD TO stop multiple times to drink it down to a level where it would stop splashing my hand every time we had to go up a curb or cross a street (seriously STICKY!). 

Time to share

It was a perfect day for our walk with lots of shade to jump through and pretty yards to check out. And by the time we got home we were more than ready for our snack. Grandma beat us home even though she left way after us but she cheated and had her vehicle with her! Of course that meant the evening was GRANDMA and GRANDPA MIKE TIME! It has been quite some time since we have been to their house and the kids soaked up every minute.

Playing a boardgame with Grandma

Add to that a tent in the backyard (there was absolutely NO left over room the next two nights at the house) for the twins and they were in heaven. Emanuel TRIED to sleep out there but apparently the big boys just are way too noisy!!! 

Trinity asleep in the middle of our bed - I was amazed neither of us woke up with black eyes!

Thankfully I was able to sort us out MacLean style – everyone’s things were bagged up according to where they would dress – girls at mom’s, boys at the Chris and Chris hotel room… Petite Sheepette went to bed already dressed for the day, the wedding gown was peeked at, as was Mae’s bridesmaid’s gown so I had an idea of what we may need to do to ensure absolutely ZERO dress calamities (or at least attempt to ensure…). I am glad I did as there was some alterations that ended up needing to be done – but that is information for the NEXT post… It was nice to get in some quiet visit time at my mom’s… to enjoy the tidiness that is her home… and of course the entertainment that is grandparents with the grandkids leaving the parents free to sit back and chuckle. Mom worked hard to get Echo to relax with her and while she refused to pass out she did do some awesome snuggle time and pave the way to a much easier Saturday. 

Getting to know Grandma's house all over again

I have to admit I was very pleased to have a calm and energy burning Thursday though I swear mom and Mike moved the house further from her work while I have been done… I was not aware of the length of walk we would have to take with the little legs just a trundling to get there and back… BUT the new stroller and I have bonded and are now thoroughly happy with the relationship… the things has SHOCKS! and Echo FITS! So worth the $40.00.

Baby legs... the visor down to save eyes from the sunlight

Well Friday was a whirlwind sort of day. I sent the boys off with their swimsuits, towels and sunscreen (all labelled accordingly) to their last session of VBS. Ken had to go back 15 min earlier than usual to see their final celebration and hear all about what they had learned. I opted to keep the girls at home to simplify things AND give me a bit more time to clean up before they came home with the groceries we needed for the evening’s bridal shower at my mom’s. 

In our new church

With their freezies

Because the boys had a special event on their schedule (with treats and everything) Trinity and I had a special event all our own. We waited until Echo went for an early nap and (leaving Ken in charge of the house and baby) set out for a walk to the convenience store. We of course stopped at the tree out front for a picture first. 

In front of the the tree --- she had pockets you know?

We  totally lucked out with a sale on the individual bags of potato chips. 2 for 2.00. So Trinity and I each picked a bag and then Trinity picked the size of the slurpee… and the flavour. She was SURE we didn’t want the smallest one and that it had to be BROWN (Pepsi). She was adventurous to even shyly wave goodbye to the attendant. That called for pictures again on the bus stop bench that is on corner in front of the station. Echo woke up before the boys came home so it was more fun in the sun in Trinity’s room. 

Stopping for a sip

Together with our booty

As last minute as usual Ken and I had a few party preparations to accomplish before heading the almost 30 min away to Karyn’s work and dropping off Trinity, Echo and myself. Ken had cookies to make (which morphed into a chocolate cake thing instead due to time constraints) and I had veggies to cut. I am actually rather proud of myself, with the melting chocolate Chris and Chris had forgotten here and all the stuff I HAD TO take to the party the only thing I forgot was the dip for the veggies (a 3 cheese ranch salad dressing). Turned out that was fine as there was tons of food anyway and of course, Trinity could easily graze at the veggies without the messy dip. 

We had to be out the door before 3 to meet Karyn by 3:30. We did a switch over and Karyn and I took the girls and Ken and the boys headed off to the town’s splash park which is about a block from Karyn’s work. Apparently A LOT of fun was had by the males in the family while they enjoyed the water. 

Water...

...water...

...and more water

We drove down to my mom’s around an hour and a half away with a stop off first at the local baby store to pick up another Sprinkles sized small diaper cover (she really is firmly out of the newborn size and that has been causing problems when we haven’t been right on top of the laundry) and some more flushable liners (FINALLY! They make poopy diapers so much easier!).

In Aunty Karyn's car

Finally onto Grandma’s house and the party. Mom had everything set up in her basement so it was simple enough to go in the side gate and into the backdoor. Trinity was so excited. Not only did she recognize Grandma’s house right away but she also go the whole place to herself and a playmate to boot. A neighbour from mom’s previous house has a sweetheart of a daughter named Kristie who gave up her evening to come play with our little ones (she is going into grade 7 in the fall! AND has just added me as a friend  to Facebook… she is so sweet!). I am so thankful she was there to help out with the girls or I would have been way more distracted and not able to join in on the conversations. I am still in a little shock though that she is old enough to be in grade 7, I think when I met her she was in like grade 2 or so! Where does the time go?

Kristie and Echo

The Bride

While we were at (she) Chris’ bridal shower Ken and the boys were home with my cousin Elizabeth getting the boys’ haircut. Of course Ken got pictures of the boys and the hair… but sadly none of the cutting OR my cousin! BUT I am told they had a blast with her and desperately want her back for a visit or MORE haircutting. Emanuel is already asking when his next haircut will be! 

The hair...

...and the cut! Thanks Cousin Elizabeth!!!

Part of the bridal shower was a face, hand and foot spa. It was interesting and luckily not more than a mild irritation with the stuff I put on my arms… it was a brown sugar scrub I think. BUT the face stuff did not cause me any issue, she used the sensitive line. (she) Chris had won the event at a bridal show. The brand is called BeautiControl. If you are in the Edmonton area I have the consultant’s information if you would like to order or have a party. She was very nice (and homeschooled for 10 yrs… she said she would do it all over again in a minute!). It was fun. Even Fat Sheep got in on the fun! 

Fat Sheep in on the fun

Oh and I have a tutorial on the gift Karyn, Trinity, Echo and I gave (she) Chris… it is a different take on hanging pictures in a frame, we are calling it a Frame Picture Hanger. An idea Karyn got from a gift she got from someone else… First off  you need a frame (empty no glass), some florist’s wire, tiny clothespins (Karyn thinks she got hers from either Michaels or the Dollarama) and some screw eyelets. 

The supplies

First you are going to want to figure out how your wires are going to go… since we had a relatively small frame to work with we decided on the one vertical with multiple horizontals. And then with a pencil you mark where you are going to screw in the eyelets. 

Make sure you measure the inside of the frame...

All of the eyelets in and ready to go.

Start with the vertical eyelets and string your wire from one to the other, making sure it is taut. Next start with the horizontals… tying the end of the wire to one eyelet string on a clothespin by going through the hole in the spring. 

Sorry the image is an odd colour... but you can see how the clothespin is put in

pull the wire taut and twist around the vertical wire to make sure it is sturdy, then add another clothespin and tie off at the corresponding eyelet. Continue for the rest of the wires…

You can just see how we twisted it around the vertical. It should be nice and taut so that when you place the pictures it doesn't sag

And there you have it… a fun and different way to display your smaller pictures! We cut down pieces of cardstock to 4X6 and wrote a little note to the bride before we put it in our gift bag! 

So cute!

Today has been much more low key. I have spent a portion of the day going through the boxes Ken brought back on his final trip from the old place… some interesting finds… quite a few of the crystal pieces we received for our wedding were in one box. Also 3 tea cups from my PARENT’S wedding set that I apparently wrapped up in 2003! 

3 cups

Seriously 2003!

I found the little china teaset I got as a little girl with ALL of the pieces, although a few are chipped (I did use them a lot).

A special find

And for some odd reason the top tier of our wedding cake – it was foam decorated in icing with the roses and everything. As lovely as it was (and to a certain extent still IS), the colours are dull now and we have to let it go. The woman who did our cake did an amazing job with the decorations… and it was neat to show the boys it. They recognized that it was for a wedding and I had to explain how old it was and they were a little put out with me that I was tossing it. 

Top tier

I had a couple items to put onto Kijiji as well, a dress and some knitting supplies (I simply have too many crafts on the go to concentrate on learning how to knit right now). I am hoping to continue with some downsizing and sell some of these items but it really is an exercise in patience!

Karyn had a run in with her cat and a very lovely orange leather purse… pee was involved as was a very upset Kitty Owner. So since we had some great cleaning solution we could lend to the cause and of course soft shoulders to cry on she came over in the afternoon. She was in need of a feel better poutine and Ken was not in any rush to run out and do my minimum errands so I was the lucky person who got to run out with her. I got an amazing deal at Walmart due to someone messing with the pricing on the school supplies area… 2 boxes of 64 crayons (Crayola brand and all) for 1.00 a piece (supposed to be 3.00 each!). And then 4 of the lined paper scribblers at 15 cents each. We are at the end of quite a few of our books after the mass amount of creativity shown during Jimmie’s visit with lined drawings. 

All for LESS than the price of one of the boxes of crayons was supposed to be!

And then there is the ribbon from Michaels that is normally 1.00 that I got with my 40% off coupon. I am debating using it to add a sash to the back of one of Trinity’s old party dresses. It simply will never be tight enough on Echo for her to wear without it… but it will depend on how it looks… I may need to go back to Walmart and go hunting for a good satin ribbon. 

So pretty

I picked up some poster paper from Dollarama (best price I have found yet – 2 for 1.00) so that we can finish our VBS time with a lovely poster with the pandas and such the kids have been making at home – after all the theme this year was Pandamonium. For some reason the poster pages I did have went missing somewhere in our move. 

We have been attempting to decrease all boxes in the house today as well.. more books on the big bookshelf downstairs resulted in another empty tub… things sorted into smaller piles, and more room in our room. There are still a few more boxes and buckets in there to be moved but we have some rearranging to be done first. I really am going to have to break down and post my boys’ clothing from newborn to current for sale… they take up so much room. 

We had another issue with the neighbour boy trying to come in without telling or asking me first. He was pulling on the gate to squeak in by pulling the gate and the bungee cord until there was enough space to slip in. I told him the kids couldn’t play – we were supposed to be going out soon as a family after all. He wanted to know when they were coming back to play and I told him we didn’t know and then ZANDER told him to come over tomorrow… again without asking me. Today’s conversation has been a lot longer and more intense than the last. I want him to have to talk to ME about playing not my children and the kids to stop him from coming in period without my knowledge. We are also going to change the latch system (from the bungee) so that it is harder for the kids to access it. I won’t stop them entirely from playing with him but it has to be on MY terms. 

Don’t forget about the boys’ final VBS drawings! I made sure those were done today too.

...and Day 5

Tomorrow I am to go to Lauralee’s with Echo and have brunch and then out with at least the girls to check out the city hall gardens downtown. I plan on dressing Trinity up of course… and maybe Echo as well. Of course Fat Sheep will be there to enjoy the greenery. It should be fun and potentially (but very importantly) relaxing which will be nice before I have to truly focus on finishing up the cleaning! 

A close up of Miss T

Echo in her funky flower headband... Thanks to Hooked On You .... the link is on the right side of my page!!