Whirlwind Wedding - The Final Installment

Okay, much later that same month (barely!) - here are the last of the TX wedding pictures.

Aunt Octavia and LB dancing the night away

Father and son

The girls' table

Say "Limo Ride!!"

.....and she's done

Aunt CC helping her out in a chilly room

Look at that form!  Papa and one of his girls :)

Still dancing the night away

Long night of partying!

Too much sugar!

Hubby and I getting out on the floor

A view from the balcony of the first dance :)

Whirlwind Wedding - Part 2

The ceremony in pictures:

Sister and her boyfriend :)

An expert program passer-outer!

 

The cousins hard at work

LB hamming it up :)

The youngest nephew

Cinca walking down the aisle

Dad saying goodbye

A blessing for the couple

The exchange of vows

A kiss for the newlyweds

Singing the responsorial

An exchange of rings

Mr & Mrs Y

My parents with the newlyweds

23 immediate family members?  Oh, that's what that looks like!

Reception photos to follow :)  Still waiting on hearing back about my husband's interview.  Praying for the grace to handle whatever God has in store for our family.

Whirlwind Wedding - Part 1

Part of the amazing thing about being in a family of nine children is the number of milestones we celebrate as a family.  This summer, there are many, many milestones.  Yoda (little sister; #8) graduated from high school, Cinca (little sister; #5) got married last weekend and Ducky (little brother; #6) is getting married in August.

Here is the first installation from Cinca's wedding:

LB took this picture of herself

I find LOTS of these pics on my camera after a long car trip

Tuckered out from traveling

A sleepy cousin en route to the wedding

How much of travel time passes

The future of our family get-togethers

Getting ready for a rehearsal

We're in line - now what?

Ok - now we're in line back here!

Practicing the seating of the parents

Practicing the ceremony

A practice exchange of vows

....that they memorized :)

Practicing the ring exchange

Ladies in waiting :)

Pretend there's a long train there!

The practice exit

One last look at single life :)

The Big 3-0

So lots of bigs thing have happened this week, nope no babies or jobs yet, but I turned 30 last week!

Lots of people asked about how I felt about turning 30 and whether or not I was freaking out about it.

I didn't feel freaked out about it because I'm good with where I am in life.  I feel like I'm doing everything I can to be available to the will of God.  I have a husband, a beautiful daughter, a home, reliable vehicles, my health.....everything a 30 year old could ask for.  I would have more children if I had my way, but the openness is there, and I still have hope for the future. 

All in all, I'm thankful to be 30....I've survived a close call with a ruptured ectopic pregnancy at 28 to get here, so my gratitude outweighs any worries about aging.

The other huge thing from this week was my little sister (one of them!) got married.  More on that in the days to follow.  Below are some pictures from my birthday :)

The chefs making my birthday brownies

Hamming it up!

Working so hard....

....the one who actually did the work :)

She's very excited about her new toy

....it lights up!

The gang's all here!

My husband has a job interview tomorrow and I've got one more month of hormones before I give my body a break from TTC.....prayers always welcome!  And know that all your intentions are in my prayers :)

Sewing 101 - Day 3/Finishing the Project

 So here's something I haven't mentioned yet that's worth noting........mistakes happen.  Sewing machine malfunction, operator error, lots of things can thwart your efforts.  Here, the tension on my bobbin was off.  So, ripping out the seam is the way to go.

 Once I finished fixing my seam, it's time to the loose threads.  Here pictured, the pocket seam has loose threads.  I pulled the threads to the back of the garment and tied the strings in a knot.  After that, snip the long ends.

When you're sewing, the bobbin (little round spool in bottom of sewing machine) thread is on the back of the garment and the needle thread is on the front.  Pull the thread on the back and a little loop from the front will pull up.  Pull that thread through to the back and you'll be able to tie the threads and snip.

 Pinning things together is  a good idea, especially when it's coming down to the final few pieces and you're getting closer to what the finished project will look like.  Here, I have pinned the waistband onto the skirt to make sure it's centered before I started sewing it together.

 After pinning the bottom and sewing, I pinned the waistband to the top and it's all ready for sewing!

 This apron is for my new niece, so I added a little something to the pockets.  I was excited to find my bedazzler, and her pockets will now be sparkly :)  Other embellishments could have been buttons, ribbon or another fun trim.

Here's the finished product!  I made my sister a matching one to go with this one (minus the bedazzling) and now I have the wedding present all ready!

Now to get packing.....