Flower Girl P.O.V.

FOREWORD

This is an attempt to capture Matt and Andrea's glorious wedding from the point of view of their little flower girls. I did not get all the photos needed to paint a full picture of their day, I missed all the critical moments and was hoping to steal a few off other family members (or the fabulous photog) but they are not forthcoming (ahem). So this is the wedding exclusively through the eyes of Athena and Zoe and their experiences of this fabulous event.

THE REHEARSAL

It all started with a rehearsal. Andrea was radiant and Matt was ecstatic. The girls were given the ribbon bouquets from Andrea's bridal showers to practice with. The lobby of the church was a joyous reunion for many Liebel cousins and aunts and uncles all participating in the ceremony. Zoe was immediately overwhelmed and tried to hide under my skirt as she usually does in such situations. There was a ongoing mass in the catholic church so we had to keep our raucous reunion to a dull roar until it finished, not an easy task with this crew.

As we were waiting for the church to clear out,
Zoe fearfully checks the length of the aisle.

The rehearsal went without a hitch.

After the rehearsal I went over all the "rules" of a flower girl. You know...no picking at your nose/butt, don't touch your sister, don't be wild, smile for the pictures...the things you shouldn't have to say, but with little kids you always do. Then off to the rehearsal dinner - at the beach!

Before dinner we snuck in a few more pictures with the beautiful bride

and did some sand diving with lovely cousin Hayley.

The setting California sun cast such a lovely light, I absolutely insisted on more pictures.

The girls tolerated it for a few minutes.

Then went off to run and play in the sand. Such a lovely evening which was made even more lovely by the awesome In n' Out catering truck, free flowing tiki bar, and s'mores by firepit for dessert. Everyone enjoyed it tremendously and the kids danced and caroused with no sign of exhaustion until nearly 11:00.

THE NEXT DAY

The next day was the wedding! The girls got ready in the church's bride room. I snapped this picture with my phone so that I could send it to Yiayia right away. They were so cute in their lime green accented polka dot dresses with custom lime and tangerine converse embroidered with their names - a special flower girl present from the bride and groom. Zoe said she never wanted to take her shoes off and wore them everyday for a week.

The girls enjoyed the "behind the scenes" of the wedding.
Waiting it out in the bride room, Zoe showed no signs of stage fright.

The gorgeous bridesmaids, cousins Laura and Stephanie, peered through the blinds to see who and how many had arrived. This is a classic shot that exists for each of the many, many Liebel weddings held at St. Cornelius.

Meanwhile the boys got dressed at the hotel.
Just look at my handsome little Dude!

(and his Daddy is pretty cute too!)
Chris was on Dude Duty while I fussed and fretted over the girls.

Finally it was time to walk down the aisle. Bryn, the mini two year old flower girl, raced ahead towards a bag of jelly beans. And Zoe and Athena walked together, Zoe clutching her sister's hand and slowly caving into her the further they walked.
But she made it without fleeing, so that I count as a success!

The next role was posing for the professional pictures.
I snapped a couple of shots of the girls with the lovely bridesmaids before leaving them to it.

Athena started to get a little tired and overwhelmed by the day but got a quick pep talk from Stephanie. I slipped away after this knowing that the girls were in great hands and they went off with the photographer to take pictures throughout the lovely grounds of the Nixon library.

At one point, I went to look for them to see if they needed water or snacks. I found what looked like an very well dressed garden party in the rose garden. The caterers were serving hors d'oeuvres and beverages as the photographers called different sets of the wedding party for pictures. The girls were bouncing happily in the middle of this lovely scene, surrounded by loving family and with no need of me. I felt all at once deeply honored that they got to be a such an integral part of Matt and Andrea's special day. What a wonderful memory for them.

THE RECEPTION

The girls were announced as they entered the reception hall on the backs and shoulders of cousins Mark and Corey. Zoe entered blowing kisses to the cheering audience, it was a priceless moment and one I didn't get a picture of.

The first dance looked like something from a movie, simply breathtaking.

Coloring books and sparkling cider for toasting was waiting for the girls when they made it to their table, so many fun and special little touches.

A highlight was the photo booth...




Throughout the night they took picture after picture with various family members and disguises and pasted them in a scrapbook for Matt and Andrea with elaborate drawings on each page.

They bounced around from photo booth to dance floor and loved every minute of the evening.

Jack hung in until the very last hour and then crashed in his Daddy's arms.

Thank you Matt and Andrea for including the girls in your special day.
It was a lovely, lovely wedding. We love you guys so much!

As I poured a very sleepy Zoe into bed that night, she wearily asked me "Mommy when can I be in a wedding again?" I answered...

"Soon, Baby, soon!"

Blogworthy

If a picture is taken and it isn't posted on the blog or Facebook,
does it have any value or did it even really happen?

This summer I started several blog posts that never made it past the first sentence. To say that I've relaxed my "blahging" is totally understated, its dwindled to a few paragraphs a month about the highest of highlights of the kids lives.

The little moments have passed by, without documentation, and are faded from memory.

On the one hand, I've allowed myself to actually live the moments, restoring the presence and being here and now rather than rushing to get my camera or silently translating events into blog material as they are happening.

There something to be said for being in the present moment in which one truly lives. Its beautiful because its fleeting. Nothing that happens will ever be the same in the same way again.

And once its gone its gone forever. Diminished to a fragment of memory - something that might have happened once. Blogging is no rival to reality, but at least by documenting there's a chance that one or two fleeting moments, of the thousands that pass by each week, may be captured and not forgotten.

And these moments are worthy of preserving, right?

Puppy Love

Today was probably the best day in Jack's short life.

It's a day that started out like any other Saturday... morning cartoons, a woobie with a sippy of milk, breakfast of yogurt and apples. But, then, right around mid-morning, Daddy disappeared with sisters and returned with...

a puppy in a bucket...

And not just any puppy, but the sweetest, gentlest, darlingest puppy you can imagine. Seriously. She quickly warmed all of our hearts. Even me, who I have to confess, was the last hold out on the puppy train. I melted when she licked my fingers and looked up at me with her sweet brown eyes for the first time. Love at first sight.

Chris has been campaigning for years and waiting and waiting (and waiting) until the kids were old enough. But I didn't want a puppy. I know how much work they are and didn't want to add another newborn's schedule to our home.

But then this past June, our very good friends came over for a BBQ and told us their Golden Lab and Border Collie just had seven puppies, then invited us all to come and see them. I rolled my eyes and knew what was going to happen.

In the end it was fate...

Because this is true love all around.

We picked her out a week ago and today she came home to stay. The girls have been counting the days. And she really could not be more perfect. Quiet and sweet, docile. The runt of the litter, the Omega. Poor baby.

We named her Tessera, or Tessa, which means "four" in Greek, as in, Baby #4. Zoe and Athena were allowed to add to that, so her full name is "Princess Tessera Jewel." Which isn't too bad considering Athena's first choice was "Princess Unicorn" or "Rapunzel" and Zoe was going for "Miss Pepper."

Jack just calls her "My Puppy" (emphasis on my).

And this guy, oh this guy, who I love to distraction,
finally has his puppy longing-heart filled to the brink.

There is however, one family member decisively NOT thrilled about our new addition.
But we're keeping them separate, for now.

First Day of School

I have been way remiss and skipped over a ton of important events and pictures - that I plan to pre-date and post later on this week - but today trumps all. Today is the first day of school for all three of our babies.

Jack starts full time day care, Athena's in First Grade and Zoe will rule the pre-school in Class 8. Class 8 is for kids old enough for public school Kindergarten but not quite old enough for St. John's Kindergarten - Zoe missed the cut off by six weeks. BUT, all her best friends, especially fellow pink ladies Aubrey, Kendall and Caitlyn, are also in Room 8, so she is thrilled.

This is how we rolled (literally, Athena had to have a pink Hello Kitty rollable backpack).
Getting to school on the first day is a family affair.

In First Grade you get your very own desk, full of your very own supplies
(pink ruler, pink scissors, pink and purple pre-sharpened pencils).

Isn't she just the cutest First Grader ever!?
This was right around the time she asked me if I could please leave now.

Outside the elementary we ran into one of Zoe's buddies, also dropping off an older sibling.
Caitlyn had not seen Zoe all summer and she squeezed the stuffing out of her.

At Jack's preschool orientation, the teachers talked about "first day tears" and how to make a quick exit. Jack did not have any problem with that, I had to wrangle him for a good-bye kiss and then he was off to play play play. He's in Class 3, which is the first class Zoe was in at this school, so we know and love his teachers and they've known him since he was six months old and are so excited to now have him in their class.

And then Zoe, my little Llama, who is truly excited about going back to school, was sooo disappointed when we got to her class and none of her people were there yet. She needs her people - her Kendall, her Aubrey, her Caitlyn and her Nate - her core group to ground her. I knew Caitlyn was right behind us and until she got there Vinnie would do for a little while.

I thought I would be more upset than I was, especially about dropping Jack off, but in all the chaos of getting stuff in the right place, etc etc. There wasn't anytime to get weepy. I'm thrilled for Jack, he is going to love school and will grow leaps and bounds everyday. Zoe will actually get homework in Class 8 and Athena, who knows, will probably doing long division before the year is over.

Oh my poor heart, how grown up they all are.