Lipani Family: September 2008

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

So Little Time

I swear I don't know where the time goes. Each night after the kids get in bed I still have a list of things to do and when my head hits the pillow it's like a ton of bricks. We are headed out of town tomorrow. Do you think any bags are packed? Yeah, right- real funny! I should be packing but instead I'm blogging. William and I had a conversation today that I quickly wrote down and immediately thought that I had to get this on the blog before we go! The poor blog has been ignored long enough!

So here it goes:

Will: Mom, I have 10 more bites to finish this sandwich. (When he finished the sandwich he could have his cheetos so every bite means he's closer to the goodies.)

Me: No, not 10 bites. I think you have less than that.

Will: What does less mean?

Me: Less means, fewer, not as many. You have less than 10 bites.

Will: Does less mean more?

Me: No, less is fewer.

Will: No, less is more.

Me: Well...

Will: Less is more. That's what Mrs. Judy says. Less is more Mom. Mrs. Judy says that. So less is more Mom, ok?

Me: Ok Will, less is more.

There a million moment like this one. I only wish I made the time to stop and write it down!

I have been abundantly blessed!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Mass Chaos

William had his first tennis lesson on Monday. He had fun, but it was complete chaos. There were 12 kids and 2 teachers! I am just glad my child wasn't the one hitting other kids with their racket or the kid who had a meltdown and banged his racket on the ground. Looks like Uncle Mike will be our next coach with some private lessons!

Dad giving Will some last minute tips. William still thinks it's cool that the racket says "W" for William (of course).

GREAT JOB, WILL!

Thanks Aunt Minnie!

Aunt Minnie sent us a big box of clothes from Sarah. Mae pulled out these hot pink slippers and she would not take them off! She loves them!!

The Big Day

Last weekend was Carson & Jeff's wedding. It was a beautiful day! Karen and I had the pleasure of helping she and the M.O.B, Joanna. The whole day went off without a hitch. Here are the pics I took throughout the day. I am currently very envious that the lovely couple are enjoying beautiful Hawaii!

The beautiful bride getting all zipped and buttoned up. You should have seen the number of buttons on the back of this dress!

The gorgeous, Joanna Conyngham! Is she ready for the red carpet or what?

Carson's family owns a floral business-- the flowers were incredible!

Mr. & Mrs. Wernz

Carson's cake came from Gabriel's. We eat there all the time for lunch. The owner, Johnnie Gabriel is Paula Deen's cousin. Pretty cool, huh? When Carson picked out this cake she didn't realize that each little "pearl" on the cake needed to be hand rolled! It came out perfect!

Jeff's Alma Mater

The photographer (Michael) had some technical difficulties here!

Karen and I had a blast helping Carson and Joanna. I enjoyed being able to use the skills learned in my previous career. The day after the wedding Joanna called to say thank you for all that we did. She said, "You are so good at your old job!" That still feels so good to hear. If it weren't for the bride's wanting to get married at night and on the weekend I would be good to go!

Carson's band was awesome! I think their name was Party Nation. Above is the groom's sister, Cathy. Below is a shot of her girlfriend, Ellen totally rocking out on the harmonica. She was incredible!! We had so much fun!

This is a really cool statue outside the King Plow Art Center where the reception was held. There was a full moon in the background. I'm sure my camera didn't do it justice.

Karen & Johnny goofing off by the get away car. One of our duties was to transport the luggage from Joanna's car to the Bentley Jeff got for their departure. We had our wonderful friend Johnny Sinclair and my incredible husband help us. (As if they had a choice!)

Carson and Jeff cracking up right after the band did a spotlight on Jeff and "encouraged" him to do a solo! He was a brave soul!

AND AWAY THEY GO!

Did I Say Trouble?

To get behind the table she crawled under it and squeezed onto the sofa

.....then she whined until I helped her down.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Lovie Pics

Here are the last few pics from my Dad and Stepmom's visit. They are precious and you can tell how crazy the kids are about their grandparents!

No Tennis!

William was supposed to start tennis lessons this past Monday. Michael got off work early to come too. On our way there the clouds started getting really dark and as we all got of our cars it started to sprinkle. Lessons were cancelled so instead we hung out in the car for a while and had a snack and enjoyed our time together.

Here Comes Trouble

You hate to label your kids-- he's the quiet one, she's the feisty one, he's cautious, she's carefree etc. However, sometimes you just can't help it.

Maren woke up from her nap the other day and William wanted to go up and check on her. When he got up to her room I hear him yell, "Mommy, Maren doesn't have her diaper on!" Oh great! All I could think was, "please let it only be pee!" Thankfully it was and I found her diaper that she pitched on the ground.

The day after this incident we had a friend over with a little boy Maren's age. She took him upstairs to put him up for a nap. Suddenly the house was unusually quiet. Michael and looked at each other and shouted, "Will, do you see your sister?" He said- no. Again we ask, "Will, is Maren in there with you?" He was playing in the playroom (what should be our dining room) and we assumed that they were together. All of a sudden we hear our friend call out from upstairs, "Are you looking for Maren? She just walked into the room." She had made it all the way up the stairs with no one noticing. One of the kids falling down the stairs is a reoccurring nightmare for me so I was none too please. I couldn't believe that she had gotten up the stairs without us hearing her.

The final incident was Monday morning. Mornings aren't good for me, much less a Monday morning. I had just finished my cereal and walked away from the table to clean up a spill from a leaky bottle Maren left on the floor. I turned around just in time to watch my cereal bowl with milk come tumbling down from the kitchen table. Her reach is amazing! Up on her tippy toes she managed to reach the edge of my bowl and yank it off the table. Happy Monday!

Monday, September 08, 2008

An Afternoon at the Park

I have a guilty pleasure of snapping pics of my kids and sharing the shots I just love. The problem is that I love a lot of them. We went to the park with my parents and it was a gorgeous day. I snapped away and wanted to share my two beauties!

Look at those curls! I'm just loving it!

William is usually so engrossed in my parents that he doesn't have time for anyone else. This day however, he found a classmate at the park and ran wild. My parents enjoyed a bit of alone time with Maren.

Here is little Miss Independent! She figured out that she could walk around and that was it! She loved it. We are all quite impressed with how sturdy she was as she walked and attempted to keep up with William.

I found a new spot to relieve any meltdowns Maren may have in the future! I put her in the swing and she completely zoned out-- not a peep!

This is Mr. Lipani, the entrepreneur. He is running his ice cream shop and he is also building a Chuck E. Cheese down the street. He was cracking us up serving us any kind of ice cream you can imagine. Look at the beautiful smile!

Maren followed Will right up these steps and then we caught a brief moment of brother and sister love.

Just one of her many expressions.
(I don't know where she would get that from.)

I just love this shot of my Dad-- his precious smirk, just enjoying the moment loving on his grandbabies. I can never say it enough- how gratifying it is to bring all of our parents such joy and happiness with our 2 little ones.

Check out all those teeth!

Maren gets introduced to a Smoochie Sandwich

My Little Monkey!

A Visit with the Mahoneys

We had some great family time during the hurricane evacuations. I was really excited to get to visit with my step brother, his wife and their 2 little girls. We don't get to visit very often so it was so nice to spend time together. I was able to get a few shots of the girls.

Pat & Mallie

Sweet Mallie was just born on July 13th

Keira was enjoying her dinner. She and Maren are just a few months apart.

It was adorable to see the two of them together!

Lipani Family