Celebrating Marriage & Motherhood

We had a weekend full of celebrating! From a family wedding to honoring our favorite moms, we packed so much into two short days. We made lasting memories and spent the entire weekend with those we love most!

We kicked off our weekend with a road trip from Pittsburgh to Erie, PA, where my brother lives, for his wedding! Greg had been alone for years after his former wife of many years left him and their five children behind. He finally found someone last year, and she turned out to be a perfect match! He is one of the best men I know, so it is wonderful to see him so happy!

When we left our house on Saturday, it was sunny and almost 80 degrees. Perfect for a wedding! Unfortunately, as we drove 90 miles north, the temperature dropped almost 40 degrees and we ran into horrible thunderstorms. When we arrived, it was pouring down rain and flooding, so we had to make a mad dash into the building where the reception was being held.

The wedding was supposed to take place on the shores of Lake Erie, so their wedding plans got altered quite a bit. The ceremony ended up taking place inside where the reception was going to be, and they had to bring in space heaters because it was so chilly! Despite the weather, my always positive and upbeat brother was still smiling, and the ceremony was perfect!

When the happy newlyweds went outside for pictures, my little family bundled up and took a little stroll on the flooded, rocky beach. By then, the rain had stopped, and we had to take advantage of the fact that we were at a Great Lake!

The kids had so much fun skipping rocks on the waves, searching for shells and pretty rocks, and throwing sticks into the raging stream that was flowing into Lake Erie. The rain soon started back up again, and chased us back indoors!

By then, it was time for dinner (which was absolutely delicious), cake and a cookie bar, and visiting with family. Even though my brother and his kids were just at Easter dinner, we usually only see them once or twice a year, so it was a treat to see them again. One of my sisters drove up from Virginia, and it has been over two years since I last saw her. I miss her, but it's so difficult to coordinate schedules! And another sister, whom I see frequently since she lives a few miles away from us, was there with her family, despite her husband finally getting a much needed kidney transplant two weeks ago. It's extremely rare that all of my siblings and nieces and nephews from my dad's side and my little family are all together at the same time, so it was an extra special day!

We had to leave much earlier than I would have liked, but we had a few tired kids, and a long(er) drive home. Even though we couldn't stay all night, I'm so glad we could be there for Greg and Liisa's special day!

All of the kids fell asleep in the car, so it was a very quiet drive home. It was funny to see the temperature increase as we drove south! When we pulled into our driveway, all the kids woke up, so we ended up putting on pajamas and having a family movie night!

Which brings us to Mother's Day...

I woke up to the girls bringing me breakfast in bed! Dylan usually cooks me breakfast on Mother's Day, but he was still sleeping. I still enjoyed my hot tea, bagel and cereal very much! And after I was done eating, I got to go back to bed for a bit longer.

When I woke up for the day, the kids were so excited to give me gifts. It was the perfect mix of homemade gifts and store bought goodies, and they were all things I love!

Days with four kids rarely go as planned, and Mother's Day was no exception. Although the day started off really good, it quickly went downhill. There was some anger and hurt feelings, but we just kept swimming.

Lexie had a soccer game that afternoon, and a storm rolled in just after halftime. The game came to a halt and everyone raced to their cars and lightning hit. Everybody sat in the parking lot for almost a half hour before they called the game.

After a quick stop at Kohl's for some Mother's Day gifts (life is ridiculously busy these days), we stopped to visit Grant's mom and Nannie for a few hours.

From there, we stopped to visit my mom. She refused to let me take pictures with her because she didn't have any makeup on...but I took one that I promised not to share! ;) After a quick stop to get Chinese food takeout, we finally made it home around 8 pm, after being gone all day. It was immediatly back to reality with dinner, homework, packing lunches, and showers. We did manage to sneak in about 20 minutes of jumping on the trampoline together before heading in for the night!

My day was far from perfect, but I did get to spend it with four people I love most, and that's all that matters! I am one lucky mama!

From a new marriage to celebrating the moms in our lives, this weekend was filled with happy memories!

And now we're bracing ourselves for the week ahead, which involves shopping, a chorus concert, a makeup soccer game, 2 hours of dance, a wedding rehearsal, another family wedding which all four of my kids are in, and another soccer game. I'm going to try to fit in some sleep, too!

How was your weekend? How did you celebrate Mother's Day?

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