The Beautiful Mrs. Bell

She was glowing. She was graceful. She was flawless. She was the "Bell" of the ball.

Well, actually, she was one of many "Bells" at the ball....but she was the newest Bell.

Last weekend my baby sister entered into Holy Matrimony with a one Mr. Brian Bell. We really like him, so it was a rather celebratory occasion.

Chelsea (and possibly Brian) did an amazing job with their wedding. It was, of course, pink and green. It was, of course, completely unique. And it was, of course, perfectly executed.

The kids and I were honored to serve in the wedding party. I as the Matron of Honor. Clinton as the Ring Bearer. And Heidi Sage as the Flower Girl.

We (and I probably mean mostly me) had been very excited about this trip for a very long time. So a week prior to the wedding, the kids and I jetted off to Texas. Can't you just see the excitement dripping off their faces??

We spent 5 days at Bebe and Hop's house working on wedding preparations. My main job....cake balls. 600 of them. You can read about the creation of those here...

The kids main job...to play...to play...to play...

On Wednesday we packed up two large trucks with tons and tons of wedding stuff, two kids, a double stroller, two car seats, and one teeny tiny bag per person, and set off towards Austin...the greatest city to ever grace the presence of this great country. Sigh.

While in Austin, we were able to partake in a number of fun activities. There was a day of visiting all my pals back at Tarrytown UMC. Even after five years of being absent, I walked in the door and felt as if I had never left. Such a special group of ladies. (And I'm a total loser and didn't take one picture while I was there. Ugh.)

We also had several wedding functions to attend. There was the rehearsal dinner at The Salt Lick. Heidi Sage stayed back at the hotel and kicked it with Amy, to which we are VERY grateful! There was the Bridal Tea for the girls...HS and I put on our best sundresses and hightailed it to the Driskal for cucumber sandwiches and the best scones on the planet... Thanks to the Matriarch of the Creech family (Peggy Rose) and her helpers Joy and Polly for hosting such a wonderful event for my sweet sister.

The beautiful bride with her two grandmothers. Grammy on the left and Peggy on the right...that's right, we call her by her first name. Rumor is I started this when I was a wee one, but I don't remember so it's hard for me to take credit for that...

The Bride with her darling flower girl...

The MOH (me) and the Flower Girl (my Heidi Sage)

At the Bridal Tea, we received one of the best surprises of all time. Seriously. You see, we have these VERY dear friends....The Voigts'. They live in Kentucky. They are like family...that you rarely get to see....because they live in Kentucky. And they had sent Chelsea a very sad note explaining why they couldn't be at the wedding. We were all a bit heartbroken, but understood. Natalie is another VERY dear friend. Who is like family. Who we were very excited about seeing at the wedding. She told us she was bringing her mother as her guest to the tea and wedding. She lied....and she works in the ministry....and yet, she still lied. However, we all forgave her as we each walked in to find Sheryl Voigts waiting on us at the tea. This was Natalie's surprise guest. Many tears were cried, BIG hugs were shared, and smiles were spread across our faces for the rest of the day. We were still sad to not see Julianne and the boys, but loved on Sheryl enough for all of them. Below is Mom, Sheryl, and Natalie...with those matching haircuts you can tell they do all belong together! :-)

After the tea we jetted off the to the wedding site to put everything together. Then I ran to get the kids and before we knew it, the wedding was ready to begin. You can find most of the wedding pictures on Chelsea's web site....but here's a few from the bridal room...

Chelsea and Brian--We had such a wonderful time and were so honored to be included on your special day. We are looking forward to many, MANY family functions together!!

The newest little sister to Mr. Bell,

While We Were Out

In my 3 short years as a parent, there have already been a handful of gut wrenching things I have had to do. -- There were the 10 rounds of kidney flare ups where I stayed up all night while Clinton threw up. There was the hospital visit where I held him down FIVE times as they tried to get an IV started. There was the actual surgery where I had to let go of his hand so they could wheel him off to surgery. And there have been a number of times when I've held either of the kids down to receive their vaccines....especially, Heidi Sage...she's a bit dramatic. -- But recently I had to do something that was by choice. I had to leave them behind.

About a year or so ago, we were the proud new parents of a 2nd child. We were enjoying everything that life with two children had to offer. We were also suffering from the great exhaustion that comes with two children--one of which was a new born who didn't sleep much. So when our friends Skip and Christel called and asked if we'd be up for an adult-only vacay to Vail in February, we couldn't get the word "YES!!!" out of our mouths fast enough.

While I dreamed of a week of sleeping through the night. Eating three whole meals a day--with two hands, no less. Getting to have some real adult conversation. And spending some quality time with my one and only, I also new I would have to have everything perfectly arranged for my kids before I would even be able to think about leaving town.

Of course the hardest decision was deciding who to leave the kids with. Rodney and I both agreed my parents would GREATLY appreciate the quality time, but weren't sure they'd be up for a whole week. A whole week with someone else's kids is A WHOLE LOT TO ASK. But I have two kids who don't sleep through the night. And both contain enough energy to power a large city. So the request felt huge...

I called Mother with this proposition, "How would you and Dad feel about coming to play with the kids for a week by yourselves?" Mother's response was a very quick, "Yes! When should we be there?"

I was thrilled!! Mother and Dad offered a man on man defense for the kids, which proved to be necessary. They are also very good about following every rule I lay down--rational or not. And the kids love being spoiled by their Bebe and Hop......and boy were they!

The day finally came for us to leave. I had worried for weeks before that the kids would be screaming as we left, that Clinton would be clinging to Rodney's leg, that Heidi Sage would be screaming with arms held out for her Mommy....and that Rodney would have to drag me away.

Clinton smiled cheerily in the wee hours of the morn and said, "Bye, Mommy! Bye, Daddy!" I went in to give Heidi Sage a kiss who was snuggled up in her Bebe's arms, she turned and buried her head in Bebe's chest. Hmmm. This will be easier than I thought. Hey, wait! Why aren't my kids sad that I'm leaving? I guess they needed the break, too!

So, after we left the kids enjoyed a week of new birthday toys, fun trips to the McDonald's playground (among other fun outings), a trip to the doctor's office :-/, playing monsters through the house, and tons and tons of one on one attention.

Clinton's Birthday gift was a rather large, rather snazzy Jeep. He enjoyed helping Hop put it together. He also received his first driving lesson from Hop, which required him learning to steer and stop on command. Once these feats were achieved, Clinton was able to take on his first passenger....and she was a very excited and happy little passenger.

The kids also had a number of outings, one of which was to one of our favorite places-- The Discovery Center. Mother and Dad had a fun time trying to keep up with Clinton between the two floors. You see, some genius decided to put a swirly slide from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor....and a very quick, very agile, very sneaky 3-year-old can get out of sight in the blink of an eye. Good times.

By the time we got home, we had an 11 month old who was walking EVERYWHERE. We had a 3 year old who was riding his bike like Evil Knievel in the cul-de-sac. Two kiddos who were semi-excited to see us. And two grandparents with bags under their eyes and smiles on their faces. I think it was a good week for all.

We want to send out a huge T - H - A - N - K Y - O - U to my parents for taking a week off of work to love on our kids. This trip was much needed and greatly appreciated!! We promise to take you next time we go to Vail!!

Recharged and ready (for a little while),

Texas Summer '09 - You Might Be a Redneck If...

Not everyone gets to enjoy the luxuries of the West Texas ranch life...but we did.




Redneck or not, Clinton had the BEST time! The city pool had already been drained, so we only got to swim this one day since it was out on a friend's ranch outside of town. If we could have done this everyday, Clinton would have been in heaven!

Yee-haw,