What boys think of weddings

Progressive Dinner

Last night, our church held a progressive dinner, which had a very nice turnout, considering the weather. We had a little ice and snow, but the wind was blowing hard and whipped your face with stinging gusts. Everyone showed up at the church for appetizers, then split up into three groups. Each group then traveled in a van together to the salad and veggie destination. After that, they went on the the main course destination, where they were served chicken and stuffing. Then, they headed back to church for a short service. Including children (who stayed at the church the whole time), we had around 90 show up. It was a great time of fellowship.

Brett rounds everybody up and assigns them to their group.

Me and my right-hand man, Cole. We hosted the main course for one of the groups.






Greg got the kids to make their funny faces.

Irish Thanksgiving Dinner

On November 18, we held an Irish thanksgiving dinner at our church to help raise funds for the team that is going on a missions trip to Dublin this March. Of course, they don't celebrate thankgiving in the manner Americans do, but we used traditional recipes to serve over 120 that attended!

The ladies dressed in green and loaded up the plates, while the guys donned wool tweed caps and served the tables. The appetizers were BBQ chicken boxty(a potato pancake), ham and turkey, dilled cabbage, green/white/and orange veggies, green punch, and pumpkin bread pudding. Afton did most of the work on the menu, and she did a fabulous job. We're very excited because she's going to be the "chef" during our stay in Ireland. It's looking we have a team of eighteen people who will be traveling to Ireland, where we will work with the local missionaries there and see firsthand what a foreign mission field is like.

The dinner was quite a success. Everyone was served and done in just a little over a hour. Also, gift baskets from Dillard's were donated to us, which were "auctioned" off to the highest silent bidder. Each of the baskets contained several bottles of perfume or cologne and coordinating lotions and creams. The dinner was a great success and helped generate some excitement for Team Ireland. We're praying that the preparations for the trip will go smoothly and it will be a profitable trip for all those involved.

New 'do

Justin and Missy's wedding was beautiful - and we made it back safely in trip that put me in a van for 40 hours round trip inside of 4 days. I was sick yesterday with fever and sore throat, and today I have a headache that will not go away, so I'm not up to writing about the weekend just yet. I'll post more tomorrow, but I just wanted to show a pic of my new haircut.

Breakfast at Tiffany's Shower continued

Gloria

Missy and Lydia

Justin made a showing, but refused to wear a tiara and black gloves.

Breakfast at Tiffany's shower

Last weekend, we threw a Breakfast at Tiffany's style bridal shower for Missy, who is marrying Justin this Saturday in North Dakota. The invitations encouraged everyone to wear their best little black dress, pearls, and fine jewelry. Most of the ladies that attended did indeed get into the classic Audrey Hepburn spirit and dressed up in their finery - it was lots of fun. I sprinkled the tables with rhinestones, ice blue marbles, pearls, and these rings that had an oversized "diamond." I also found some party favor tiaras that some of the younger girls wore.

We served several kinds of quiche -sausage, ham, seafood, tomato basil, gouda spinach, asparagus portobello. The hard part was deciding which ones to try. There was also fruit trays and plenty of cream puffs, eclairs, and finger desserts.

We all had a fun time showing up in our outfits, Baylea and Molly had cute floppy black hats and long black gloves. It was a great turnout, and the shower progressed quickly. I think the deciding factor was eliminating the games - after all, how many times can you play bridal bingo and it still be fun? People are busy and they start to get restless if things aren't kept moving along. We were over and done with in two hours. Missy received a lot of great things that she had registered for - their home will look fantastic!

We leave Thursday night to make the whirlwind trip for their wedding. It will take around 17 hours to get to Bismarck from here. Luckily, we have 6-7 people that are going together in a large van so we can take turns driving through the night. We'll leave Thursday night, arrive Friday noonish, rest a little, then go to the rehearsal. Brett is performing the ceremony on Saturday at 11:00. We'll leave late Saturday afternoon, so one of our friends can be back for work Sunday evening. 34 hours in a van in one weekend will be quite the experience. Actually, I love to travel to new places and now I can see what the great state of North Dakota looks like. We're really looking forward to the wedding and hope that everything goes smoothly for Missy.

The table setting- I can't make this pic any bigger from some reason.

Looks like I have some flower on my face.

Beautiful silver, it all looked so classy -just like Missy always is!

This party was right up her alley.

 

Our sunday school class had a cookout this summer at the Miller's home. Our kids had a blast riding their horses. They even would perform stunts and fall off on purpose . . .if you look closely, Baylea is sprawled out on the lawn. Don't worry, she was laughing the whole time.

It's time to play catch up. I just got 3 discs created from memory cards that hold close to 600 pictures from the last couple of years. I may pick some of my favorites and post next week. Brett and I are driving down to Springfield for the weekend to pick up a piano and some other furniture from my parent's house. Our house is coming along, slowly. We are thrilled with the space and think that the kids are able to play without trampling all over each other. We are so thankful for it and hope to be completely settled in shortly.

Two Men and a Van

Lydia took this picture of the boys helping us move! I haven't had time myself to take any pictures (come to think of it, I haven't unpacked the camera).

We have two rooms completed - the living room and the kitchen. The rest of the rooms are filled with boxes. It's slow going, but we are making progress!

Our New Home

We will be moving to our new home starting tomorrow. I'm so very excited, but I know that there is lots of work to do. As soon as I get off work today, I'm planning on boxing and cleaning and organizing until the movers get here tomorrow morning at 8:30. I've already done a lot of packing, but I still have a ways to go.

Our current house served its purpose for the time being. Just as our church was moving into its new building 4 years ago, the little house next to it went up for sale. It needed work done on it, but it was so convenient to be living right next to Victory during its formative years.

However, I don't think six people are meant to share one bathroom. The kids are definitely growing out of their little-kid stage, where they like to run and play and stomp around. As I said earlier, I never realized how noisy my family was until I was by myself in Chicago. It doesn't bother me, but I'm glad that they will have room to breathe now.

Mom and Dad are coming up here also to help out. There's still a lot of work to be done to put our old house in sellable condition. In the last 12 years, Brett and I have moved seven times. I certainly plan on staying here for a long time.

Chicago Conference

Things I learned at the Ronald McDonald House Charities International Conference in Chicago last week:

- Australian currency is made out of a fabric that you can't tear.
- The Gandy Dancer in Ann Arbor has the best lobster bisque I've ever had.
- You can buy an original Dr. Seuss painting for $30,000 on Michigan Ave.
- There are fireworks at the Navy Pier that explode in the shape of a heart.
- The Chicago Marriott downtown has truly comfortable mattresses.
- It is a small world. I met a girl from Springfield who knew my sister-in-law.
- The Field Museum is a breathtaking place to visit.
- Nights are eerily quiet without my four kids around.
- It is possible to gain 5 pounds in 4 days from the chef's cooking at the Marriott.

I had a great time and learned a lot from the conference that will help our local organization. This week, it's back to the grind and gearing up for moving into a new house. The next couple of weeks promise to be very busy . . .

Exhausting Week

We have Vacation Bible School going on at church this week in the evenings from 6:00-8:30. Roughly 80 kids from K-6 have shown up every night, which has been rewarding, though exhausting. I'm the teacher for the 3rd and 4th graders. It is actually a really good age to work with because they are old enough to understand instructions and follow through, but young enough to not have the "I'm too cool for this" attitude.

We have two more nights left. Several have already made the decision to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and we're praying for more to do the same. I'm sure Saturday will be one of those collapse-and-do-nothing days.

Mighty Mouse

Someone said that this picture makes Connor look like Mighty Mouse, which it kind of does. How funny!

More from St. Louis

Here was a cool car that pulled up at the gas station. The driver was nice enough to let Connor sit in it.

Our stop at the St. Louis Arch

Cole celebrated his 2nd birthday last week. We took him to Major Magic's, which is like Chuck E. Cheese's, but less crowded. He loved digging into his cake, wanted to ride a token-operated car over and over, and helped me play some skee-ball. He's getting more independent every day, and is starting to realize that he can glare at you if he doesn't get his way. We're working on that one.

Good friends of ours had a fire at their apartment building on Saturday and they lost almost everything they had. Luckily, Aaron and Melanie had renter's insurance, but it must still be devastating to suddenly only possess the clothes you went to work in. She was able to salvage some wedding china stored under a bed, a computer, and some of her mother's jewelry. The last items were very important to her, as her mother passed away suddenly in December. It's been a tough year for them, but they know that God still has His hand on them and will provide their every need.

I'm hoping to post some more pictures from our vacation to Missouri this week. They should be ready on Wednesday, so I plan on adding some more, including our stop at the St. Louis arch.

June trip to Missouri

 

The Bartlett six headed south to Missouri for my brother's wedding. We left late Wednesday night to eliminate numerous bathroom stops and general frustration from the kids. Total driving time = 12.5 hours.

We spent Fri and Sat at the beautiful Chateau on the Lake in Branson. We hit the go-karts, bumper boats, and children's rides first. At the hotel, the kids spent every free moment they could in the pool, and I got my first pedicure (oh my goodness, how wonderful.)

The wedding was beautiful. The sun was bright, but at least there was no rain. Connor did a wonderful job, made quick friends with the flower girl, and even told someone he would marry her.

On Sunday, Brett preached at South Side Baptist Church. It was a wonderful service, but we did miss our own church family terribly.

We got to spend time with our respective families, had three home-cooked meals from our grandmothers, took in a Nancy Drew movie, went miniature golfing, swam some more, and had a great time just spend time together as a family.

We decided to drive back during they day, but broke it up with a stop at the St. Louis arch. It was great fun . . .pictures to come from that later. Total driving time back = 15 hours.

Sunday, June 10

 

Memorial Day

It was a busy day, but very fun. We went to the park in the afternoon and let the kids play for while in the hot sun. Baylea, Molly, and Connor discovered that they love to make themselves dizzy on the tire swing, while Cole could have spent the whole day being pushed in the regular swing. He also showed no fear of heights and would climb up anything with or without me.

Brett and I played in our golf league later and had a really fun time. I shot my first birdie ever! It was a short par 3, but I got on the green in one (which has also never happened), and made a decent putt to sink it. Golf can be really fun when you hit well . . I hope to get better each week in the league.

Then we went to Demetrius and Joanne's for a cookout with church friends. We got there towards the end, but had a blast playing volleyball, family feud, and making s'mores. We got home around ten and thought we were up for watching a movie, but five minutes later, the activities of the day caught up with us and we all went to bed, exhausted.

You Know You're a Mother When . . .

You count the sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they're equal.

You have time to shave only one leg at a time.

You hide in the bathroom to be alone.

Your kid throws-up and you catch it.

Someone else's kid throws up at a party. You keep eating.

As you cling to the high moral ground on toy weapons; your child chews his toast into the shape of a gun.

You hope ketchup is a vegetable, since it's the only one your child eats.

You find yourself cutting your husband's sandwiches into cute shapes.

You hear your mother's voice coming out of your mouth when you say, "NOT in your good clothes!"

You stop criticizing the way your mother raised you.

You donate to charities in the hope that your child won't get that disease.

You hire a sitter because you haven't been out with your husband in ages, then spend half the night checking on the kids.

You use your own saliva to clean your child's face.

You say at least once a day, "I'm not cut out for this job", but you know you wouldn't trade it for anything".

(The 4th and 5th lines are spot on!)

 

 

 

 

Our friends Todd and Kelly visited Toledo a couple weeks ago on a Sunday. After church, we ate at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, El Camino.

To be fair to the kids, I'll post mine too.

Molly's Celebrity Look Alikes

Baylea's Celebrity Look-Alikes

Connor's Celebrity Look-Alikes

This cracked me up. How do these people look similar and how in the world do they look like Connor? I've never seen such a mix of faces!