On the 16th Day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to me - 16 mice a scrambling. Since this is my futile attempt at blog catch-up, I'm welcome to make up lyrics to the song, right? I do realize there aren't 16 days of Christmas and apologize for compromising the integrity of this Christian classic. For more information than you ever need to know about the foundations of the tune, please check out this website.

Back to those scrambling mice... or maybe I should say 16 crazy people scrambling amongst a mouse, none other than The Mickey Mouse. 

Among our newer holiday traditions is a quick trip to Orlando for the Disney Very Merry Christmas Party in early December. I hesitate to share this secret, as I'm fearful more and more people will discover the gem of Disney special events and the events in-turn will lose their special, limited amount of people feel.

Aunt Kassie recently commented that she is SUPER happy LE outgrew those ridiculous over-sized bows ;).

Two years ago, when Disney did one of their Florida resident specials, I had the brilliant idea that we should spend a week at the Happiest Place on Earth, for Tax Man's post-tax season getaway.While full of merry-making memories, there was very little relaxation involved, so Tax Man made me promise that future post-tax trips would happen in more low-key venues.

She loves a good map. Keeps them as treasure in her art basket... and has been found to be reminiscing about trips while looking at the maps {or pointing out rides we didn't go on}.

And so, promising the man in charge that we would take a Disney breather, we held out 18 whole months between visits and then in December 2011, had our first Very Merry Christmas experience with our cousins.

These are the munchkins this year, but they are the ones responsible for introducing us to this little gem. We waited for exactly 0 minutes to see Mickey Mouse. Not kidding - no 90 minutes of bribing kids in line for two seconds of character time.

This year, we decided to tack the trip onto our family Christmas party trip to Jacksonville {which is traditionally on the first Saturday of December}, and included a whole gaggle of geese loved ones in the adventure.

Someone please remove the leggings from my closet until after I have this baby and once I've started exercising again. I think my thighs have gained more weight than the ole belly.

Nana and Sisters had the joy of Disney with LE and I a few years back {I swear, we don't go that often}, but this was Papa's first trip with the Peanut, and boy did she love having her Goofy there!

And while trying to keep 16 people wrangled at Disney World was a bit of a joke {ask Tax Man}, there is something so incredibly special about sharing these smiles with family.

Our family is uniquely blessed to be ridiculously uniquely large, and I spent many a childhood vacation with these kids' parents - looking up to them, being ignored by them, trying my hardest to keep up with them, being exposed to all kinds of experiences with them - and so the "Circle of Life" continues as our own kids form fast friendships.

Part of the joy of Very Merry Christmas is that by 7 pm, only ticket holders for the event are in the park - and the number of people there is extremely limited. So, literally, between 6:55 and 7 p.m., lines suddenly dissipate and children can choose to ride rides and visit characters over and over...

And over...

Even the "children at heart" enjoyed visiting with the characters. I can't figure out why...

As a side note, LE gave her daddy a frame with two photos to select from for his desk. One was the above pictured image of her and Ariel, the second was a recent one of me and LE - guess which one he picked?!?

And, a night visit to Disney can't end without a twirl with Prince Charming...

Or some serious discussions with our favorite princess du jour...

"How do I make my hair grow like yours???"

It was a Very Merry night indeed!

My True Love Gave to Me...

LE and her baby sister {who apparently shall remain nameless at this time} received precious 12 Days of Christmas place mats this year from sweet friends, and I quickly realized just how much lung capacity singing that little song takes {try it a few hundred times, six months pregnant and see how you feel}. As I downloaded images from the past month and viewed my photo stream, I also realized that maybe, just maybe, if I use the 12 Days of Christmas as a theme, I might be able to squeeze all of our holiday smiles into 12 quick {ish} posts in the next few weeks month {who honestly knows with my lack of blog posts these days, right?!?}.

"On the 9th Day of Christmas, my True Love Gave to Me, 9 Ladies Dancing"

As much as Tax Man wishes I could place some parameters around this tradition, these little guys have a very special place in our holidays each year...

At one point he told me I could display three Nutcrackers total in our home, including ornaments... an impossible feat for a girl that danced the classic ballet at least 13 times in her life.

 The tradition starts even before Thanksgiving each year, with annual "Kingdom of Sweets" event, a fundraiser for the ballet company in our local community. An afternoon of delectable sweets, arts & crafts, a Nutcracker mini performance and even an early visit with Santa Claus never fails to deliver plenty of smiles {even when it falls on the Sunday immediately following our family's move to a new home!}.

Salt-n-Pepper friends taking in the ballerinas.

 And the tradition continues well into December with us taking in the performance.

First, ladies who brunch...

Followed by quick photo opps in front of the auditorium.

Their mommies shared the stage for many, many years, so it is such a treat to enjoy these moments together.

 Our "true loves" are pretty good to us!

Merry, merry wishes for maybe actually getting a few more of these memories documented. We have so many from this year!

S-T-O-P

Mamas with older kids - you forgot to tell me how fast growing up goes when these peanuts reach the preschool/four-year-old mark.

The learning curve started within the first week of the school year with lessons for mommy and daddy in marine biology - did you know octopus have three hearts? Side note - I just had to look up the plural of octopus. Apparently octopus, octopuses and octopi are all acceptable.

Back to that learning curve... or maybe I should call it a mountain? We seemed to reach the top of a cliff yesterday when Logan proudly announced to me - "S-T-O-P spells stop." Every single day she is discovering new things and spelling new words to us, and though part of me wants to say...

Just Say Little necklace from one of my favorite artists - Sarah Jane Studios

I know I can't slow this down. This is what she eagerly showed me after school yesterday...

She admittedly said that she copied kangaroo off the "K" board, but her teacher shared that she asked her to spell dollhouse aloud for her to write all by herself. Since they are only on "K" this week she had to show her how to write "U" and she needed a reminder for the "H," but all other letters were completely on her own.

So, I've now resolved that I can't spell bad words Christmas gifts to Shannon on the phone anymore when LE is in the car, and I've realized that we have a little girl, not a toddler, one with an insatiable appetite to learn and read - making her bookworm parents so proud! I'm pretty certain she will be reading to us by the time Baby Bean arrives in April 2013.

Thirty Three

 Happy 33rd Birthday to the love of our lives!

She thinks you hung the moon.

You have the kind of quiet patience necessary for daddies of daughters {and husbands of  notoriously inpatient wives}...

Acting as the Pied Piper of seagulls in Newport, RI.

You indulge us in all the sweet treats of life...

And give the very best of hugs...

You hold our hands as we discover the many beautiful places of the world...

And only complain a little when we spend more than our allowance provides...

You keep us safe, even along rocky shores...

You are the best 'seeker' of little 'hiders'...

And you come up with the most ridiculously fun ideas like feeding the ferocious seagulls of Rhode Island...

We're so glad you picked us!

Thank you for loving all of us more than a couple of girls could ask...

 Including the sweet little punkin' on its way...

We love you daddy and hope the year ahead brings you as many smiles as you bring to us!

Love-ly

 

Considering it has been a month today since Bob Bishop and Sister became Mr. & Mrs., it might be high time I share a few photos from our Beantown trip. I'll do my best to keep the words at a minimum and let the pictures do the talking.

LE and I departed early on Wednesday morning with my parents to arrive for last-minute wedding preparations.

Or, better known as shopping...

One of the first places on her list to visit Polka Dog Bakery , to pick up a treat for her favorite puppy. You may recognize the brand as one of the first six featured "Shops at Target."

A little makeup sampling at Sephora, of which she was smart enough to know that her daddy would most certainly not approve. Parenting note - if mommy ever needs some time at Sephora to purchase new makeup for aging glowing skin, bring along a Nana to occupy the tot's time by making her look like Honey Boo Boo.

We did actually do a little wedding crafts - and she was of great help!

We all {Tax Man, LE and I, Mum and Dad, Baby Sister and Matt, and our favorite pseudo sister and Kat's childhood best friend Sarah D.} stayed together in a perfect brownstone right in the bride & groom's neighborhood, in the South End of Boston. It was fun all being together as a family and being in such a perfect locale for delicious eats and boutiques.

Thanks to Aunt Kassie's babysitting prowess, I even got the treat of dinner with my parents, ALONE. Just like when I was five, before they decided to rock my world  give me one of the best gifts ever - a little sister. We ate at South End Buttery, a delicious bakery/cafe by day and tasty dinner option by night.

Friday morning brought Tax Man {wearing his suit on his 5:45 am flight... apparently to keep it from wrinkling or maybe because he is That Important??}. 

And a real, non-Instagram camera arrived with Aunt BeBe {I decided not to pack mine to lighten our load and just kept hers for the remainder of vaca}. 

We all met up in the lovely courtyard of the Boston Public Library for lunch.

.... and then headed over to the Taza Chocolate Factory, a local Massachusetts stone-ground chocolate factory with a passion to bring traditional Mexican chocolates to U.S. taste buds while operating with the utmost of social responsibility. In short, they make great chocolate and it is interesting to hear about the process while enjoying countless samples.

Plus, one gets to wear these stylin' hair nets for the tour...

The bride & groom, wearing their lovely 'veils.'

If you have a beard, you get to wear two!

Following the chocolate love affair, we headed back to the house for some snacking, resting and smiles...

Wedding gift from sisters... we had the print created featuring each of the bride & groom's homes and the city in which they met and now call home - the Journey is the Reward.

The different bottles of vino are for marriage milestones and celebrations...

Note the name of the wine for First Fight? Who knows what it tastes like - aren't you supposed to buy wine based on the creative name and how well it works within your gift? Wonder if they've popped the cork on this bottle in their first month of marriage?!?

 We wrapped the day of amore up with a bit of pampering...

She seems perfectly content here.

I've caught her threading tissues and toilet paper between her toes to play pedicure many times since.

Baby sister and the best of friends.

Saturday morning we awoke to beautiful blue skies for a day to celebrate the sweetest love.

Just a few shots of wedding details. I promise to share better photos from the photographer soon...

The intimate courtyard locale for the ceremony...

I took no photos at the ceremony with the exception of the above instagram shot of three sisters. The photographer's shutter was clicking away, so I'm sure there will be plenty to share... Kat, daddy and LE walked from her house, through the lovely neighborhood and to the courtyard for the ceremony - can't wait to see those pictures!

The ceremony was very small - less than 20 of us there total - and it was the most perfect reflection of sister and Bob Bishop, from the opening prayer from our dad to the thoughtful vows shared. And the food that followed was divine. Simply divine.

Dinner reception was a bit larger - about 50-60 of their local friends - and was completely vegan/vegetarian {though this favorite restaurant of theirs is most well known for its charcuterie}. And even Tax Man's appetite was satiated by the end of the night.

Simple, rustic decor. Bricks came from extras from the patio at my parent's house and were shipped to Boston and delivered to florist for succulent plantings. Ask Bob Bishop how much he loved picking that package up from the post office.

There's the little flower girl!

Insistent that she help with the serving of the cocktails.

Heather and her precious little E... might like to steal that sweet girl for our family!

Playing through the open window. Have I mentioned how much we love September in Boston?

The wedding "cake" - chocolates from Taza stacked on a tiered tree stump tray.

Pretty sister.

Happy sister.

The old married folk.

She may be getting a bit tired... but this face is classic.

Enough with the pictures!

And some sweet hugs to say good night...

I'm convinced that there is not a greater love than watching your little sis meet and marry the man of her dreams, and seeing his unconditional love for her right back. To have LE a part of this special day was such a blessing.. and the days of vacation that followed weren't too shabby either.

Are you still there? Clearly I got tired of narration towards the end and just gave you quick captions. You get the point, right?

It was lovely. All of it. Just lovely.