Aunt Stace's Wedding

David's sister got married this weekend on what turned out to be a gorgeous weekend!  The forecast called for rain, but it ended up being sunny in the late afternoon and just perfect.  The girls have been SO excited for weeks now - this is the first wedding they've been intimately involved with - and they loved it!   

I assure you Caroline is not in pain - it's just her weird smile these days!

CE is our resident "poser" - always media ready, that one!  Look at pretty Stace!

Stacey looked so gorgeous in her wedding dress and the church was glowing with flowers and excitement.  Carrigon was the flower girl and quite the stunt performer to get herself out of photos - but we did manage to get a few with her in them.  The wedding photos are so gorgeous - and WAY better than these phone photos I'm sharing - but I couldn't wait to show them off!

A view from the back of the photographer's camera - see much better than mine!

CE supervising the photo shoot (she's her Mama's child, y'all)

The good looking Cain crew (love how Mama threw that hand on her hip)

Stacey and David

Carrigon photobombing - it tickled her so!

Jamie and Carrie

I caught her still once!

With Jamie

This next picture gives a pretty accurate view of what it was like to get al the kiddos smiling and standing still.  Makes me laugh - I have no idea where Caroline got the idea to hold her dress out - but hey, if it works, it works.  Aunt Stacey and Uncle Jamie are sure to have some good laughs from the photos of this crew.

We had the pleasure of seeing so many of David and Stacey's family that we don't get to see enough. Though the girls see Stella frequently, it's not enough for them.  They sure love Aunt Stella.

Aunt Stella and little mama

Catherine Ellis was very concerned about the kiss at the end and even covered her eyes - such a silly willy, that one.  She adores Jamie and is so excited he's officially a part of the family.

The reception was at the church and all we Cain ladies talked about all day was wedding cake - it's the best part!  The cakes were beautiful and yummy!

Drinking milk with their cake

They had quite a crowd of spectators 

It was a wonderful day, a beautiful ceremony and a great welcoming of Jamie into the Cain family and Stacey into the Woodley family!

The little house that could

The house is really starting to look like a home these days!  The dry wall was installed this week and it made it look like a real house - finally!  

Master bedroom - working on the cathedral ceilings - our favorite part!

It was fun to see the guys on stilts 

The exterior paint is going on currently - you can't tell a lot, but I'm so glad my middle of the night "oh no we picked the wrong color!" sudden awakening was silly - it's going to be just right.  

Exterior paint going on in the back (excuse the trash!)

Kitchen

Trim was delivered this week!

Can't wait to see it go up!

We picked out the upstairs carpet this week, paint colors for each room and started planning our built-ins. We picked our marble slabs last week and the cabinets are coming along!  Next week we'll head to pick up our reclaimed wood for the kitchen island, mud-area, kitchen bench and mantle. Can't wait to show you how neat this warehouse is!

 Downstairs Den

 Hallway to mud-area, laundry, half bath and master bedroom

 Laundry room

 Master bedroom entrance

 Master exit to patio and breezeway

 Might be our favorite part of the house - the master closet!!  

We've never had so much storage!

 Girls den/play area upstairs

 Girls bedroom

 Back upstairs bedroom

Third upstairs bedroom 

This was the house earlier today!  All the hardy plank has been placed, trim finished, soffets and eaves finished, shingles are on the roof and the exterior paint is going on!  I can't wait to see the entire house painted and the brick finished.  The front porch will look so different once it's finished. Keep up the good work Willow Homes - November will be here before we know it!

September 25, 2014 progress

Bustin' 'bos

Yep, Catherine Ellis has been at it again - bustin' bos!  Monkey bars (I detest them!) + not listening=a broken elbow.  Labor Day weekend Catherine Ellis was visiting her grandparents and just couldn't wait for Pop to get to the monkey bars to help her - she jumped up, missed and the rest is history.

Yes, this is the same elbow she broke two and a half years ago and had to have surgery, pins, etc. Thank goodness this time we've steered clear of surgery.  She was released this week from surgery potential and got her second cast for the remainder of her healing time.  We're super thankful that we didn't have to go the surgery route again.

She was really excited, but had a twinge of sadness when she realized 

she was going to be taking it easy for a little while

She's been a good sport and because she didn't have surgery she's gotten a water-proof cast - how cool is that?!  So she can shower, bathe, swim, etc.  It's not slowed her down one bit except that she has to sit out of PE at school which is no fun.

Ready to hit the road

She got a blue cast the first two weeks and red for this last half!  Thanks for the prayers for her healing- she's making great progress and I won't be the least bit sad to wave good-bye to the orthopedic surgeon at Children's for what I hope is the last time (I probably just jinxed myself).

 It was wear orange day at school - but it's a precious Auburn 

outfit too!  Perfect for that red cast she's about to get

Excited about her red cast

In all seriousness, Catherine Ellis has made a no-fun situation very easy - she's complied for the most part and made the best of her limitations.  I'd do good to take a few notes from our five-year-old.  

Caroline's First Day of Pre-K III

Mama has been SO busy of late, but I don't have many pictures to document her because she's never still - ever.  Always on the go!  We have the rare moments of "resting," but they are few and far between.  Full of life this one!

Caroline (Mama) started Pre-K III on Monday, August 11th and was SO excited to be moving up a class.  We ADORE Ms. Octavia - you'll remember she was Catherine Ellis's three-year-old teacher and one of our most favorite teachers yet!  So it was a bit like homecoming:)

Caroline draws lots of pictures at school - especially for her Meme!  Sweet thing!And boy is Ms. Octavia (Tavia to Caroline) in for a ride!  She thinks Caroline is a HOOT - and she is - but she was a bit shocked to see how different the girls are - I think this is probably a trend for what lies ahead, but it's certainly not a bad thing.  They each have wonderful, unique things that make them special. There is no one youer than you.  Thanks Dr. Seuss!

And at the end of the day, sometimes, she chills!  We can't wait to see how she grows and changes during the next year!  We love you to the moon and back sweet girl!

Chillin'

Tiny Dancer

Catherine Ellis had her first official ballet class last Thursday.  While she's taken dance every year at school, it's not been ballet focused or outside of her school.  She has been SO excited about her two picks for this semester, ballet and gymnastics (we won't start that until the cast is off) and could hardly wait for Thursday to come!

We love Children's Dance Foundation - it's a wonderful organization that serves so many in our community.  CDF has provided free dance classes to the YWCA for years now (and many other child care centers)- they take the arts to those that might not have the opportunity otherwise, so when it came time to select where we would attend it was a no-brainer.  Not to mention their ED is a grad school buddy of mine and one of the most fabulous people I know.

As time approached for class to start Catherine Ellis got a little nervous because of her arm (more on that later this week!), but as soon as she realized her teacher was her former dance teacher at Rushton the nerves were all gone.  She had a blast!  The class is full of little girls we don't know, so another opportunity to get to know our new neighborhood and community.  

 Ready to dance!

These pictures are all a bit blurry because the parents sit in the hallway in front of the classroom windows that on the inside are mirrors. Which is genius to me and I'm sure have been around for decades now, but they sure weren't when I took dance.

 Warming up

 Watching herself in the mirrors

 She smiled the entire 45 minutes!

 Giddy about learning her new "moves"

Of course Catherine Ellis made sure she was right next to her teacher - soaking it all in!  The class was adorable, I think I smiled the entire time too.  Brought back such fond memories of all my years of dance.  I was also a little relieved at the fact that we made it from school, dressed, on-time and she enjoyed it.  Our very first extracurricular after-school activity was a hit!

David doesn't get to join us, so I took a bit of video for him to see Catherine Ellis in action - you can tell she's loving it and that cast didn't slow her down one bit.  Determined little wee she is!