wedding cuteness

It was GRAND! It was GORGEOUS! It was sooooooooooo FUN!!!!! My niece got married! This is the same little girl that was 5 when I started dating her uncle, the same little niece that I had walk down the same isle in the same church for my own wedding. The same little niece who I have had the pleasure of watching her grow up, and (sob, sob, sob) become a beautiful young lady! I will admit, I saw her for the first time as a "grown up" only this day! Until July 11th she was still our "lolly" I watched her walk down that isle and she literally was growing up as she got to that alter! She was beaming as she married Jesse and still had that sweet giggle that only those who know Holly, know what I am talking about. Her flower girl was our Olivia, and I have to say, she was in her glory! she went to get ready w/ the bridesmaids, and loved all of the excitement and fun to be had! This was a bonus for me, because I got to be there when Chet got a look at his daughter the bride for the first time! Let's just say, lots of sobs, he had to walk out of the room and compose himself at one point, but it was so tender and sweet! Olivia enjoyed her ride to the church in the limo with all of the girls, then she was a champ! She walked down the isle like she had done it all before. Jackson read from the bible, and I have to say he was quite impressive! He even had a previous teacher of his in the congregation, and she was boasting to all how great he did(thanks Steph). After a few pictures, we headed to the reception where the real party got going! I absolutely LOVE and ADORE my husbands family from NY, and they came down for the wedding!!!! We danced and chatted and laughed ALOT!!! I am adding more pictures because I couldn't fit them all in this post!!!!! Enjoy!

10 YEARS!!!!!! WHAT????? Where did it go? 10 years ago today, I became a mom for the first time! Not just any mom, but Jacksons mom! Life has been one big ride with him every since that day! This is my boy, ALL boy All the time!!!!!!!!! He is great at every sport he touches, he is kind and has a big heart! He has compassion for all things living, LOVES any kind of pet, even the creepy crawly ones! His favorite hobby, other than sports is fishing! He tries his hardest in school and with a lot of determination, keeps up good grades! He is fun! But most important, he loves his mama! I am blessed to be his mom, I am honored ( and a bit frustrated at times) to get to call this boy mine! He has God in his heart, and a magnetic personality! They say you forget when they were babies, well not me , not yet. I remember his 1st 4th of July, just 3 days old, holding him and watching the fireworks out his nursery window. I remember his breath and the way it felt on my chest, I remember the way his little body slumped on my chest and the was his full head of jet black hair felt against my chin! Ohhh! the joy of watching him grow! It just keeps gettin better!!!! Happy Birthday Jackson... may your every dream, wish and hope come true!!!!!!!!!!

Worlds Greatest Dad

As I thought I would write this big "ode to daddy" I realized I need to take more pictures of him with all 3 kids together! My children are blessed by this man! He loves them unconditionally, supports them in their choices, coaches their sports teams, reasons with them far better than myself, and most of all he is a great role model for them! He works two jobs, and doesn't complain, comes home and is always willing to jump in the pool, or take a bike ride or play some type of outside sport! The affection he shows them is without a doubt one of my favorite things about this man! Sure sometimes I am annoyed that he is constantly walking around with a girl on each hip, or whatever grand idea Jackson has of the month, there he is finding any piece of equipment that is needed for his latest venture! Sure I think he gives in to easily or babies a little too much, but you see, this is what makes him the greatest dad! Behind every great dad, there is a nagging mama for sure!hahaha! He is always willing to volunteer at their school for whatever is needed, including an every other week cooking lesson w/ Olivia's Kindergarten class! our kids think he hung the moon and all of the stars around the moon! So this one is for daddy! We love you and are soooo lucky to have you!!!!!!

Catching up!!!!!!!!

So much to write about! I promise there will much to do about Abby's first communion, and class field trips and piano recital and much more... but lat night was about catching up! Let me introduce you to Lisa, Lauren, Dina & and Andrea! I met these girls in high school, 15 years old, nothing to stop us! 20 something years later, here we are! Dina has moved away to Tennessee, we have 11 kids between us, we have supported each other through births, deaths, marriage and divorce... but last night we were 15 again! Only the conversation is a bit more mature(not really) hahahaha! We remembered old times, talked about our babies, and laughed! I mean REALLY laughed HARD! With tears rolling down cheeks, and a few head turns from others in the restaurant, we were the same! I think we all have only gotten better w/ age, and yes, now we meet for sushi, instead of the mall food court, and we talk about when we had our babies, and how they are growing up, and at one point I started cracking up, because for just a second there we were all grown up! You need times like these! Time for each other, time to reconnect, time to realize that when we finally get some "time" all we want to do is have fun! Cuz we don't know when we are going to get to do it again, we don't know how much more busy we will be next time! All of this means "yep, we have grown up" but last night felt good to just be the same old friends... Catching up!!!!!!!!!

First of all let me put out a disclaimer! These pictures were taken by my amazingly talented friend Kelle Hampton, and I am sure there is some rule about taking pictures from someone elses blog and putting them on your own... but I couldn't contain myself!!!!!!!! My sweet little Abby is receiving First Holy Communion next weekend, and Kelle is doing the pictures for the entire church!!!! So we got to have a little fun w/ Abby early so she will have some displays for the ceremony! She did all of this at her home, in her yard and even w/ a baby on her hip at times!(sweet Lainy Love) So here goes... I have been thinking about this day fir a long time! I think being Catholic is wonderful and we are a family rooted in our Faith. Trying to raise my children Catholic is sometimes hard, and by that I mean I just want them to understand it and truly embrace it! I want them to find all of the customs and traditions as sacred as we do! Starting with her 1st communion! We have been practicing how to receive communion, and what it means an what a sacred blessing it is to come into communion with your church! She has gone to her first Confession and she is truly excited to be doing this! So with all that thinking I am gonna let you in on the personal side, this is a little hard but here goes! My dad passed almost 8 years ago (Abby is 8) and I often wish he could see them growing up. My mom and dad were married for 35 years and I feel blessed by my childhood and all of that! So my mom has re-married and is very happy, she gave me her wedding gown that she wore when she married my dad and it has been in the closet, I have kind of thought this would be the answer to Abby's 1st communion dress. So the time came and I pulled it out, and it had that smell, the smell of my Mom-Mom's house(my grandmother) and I got out the wedding picture of my parents and I looked at the beautiful dress! This dress that my Mom-Mom made with her sweet hands! I looked at the pearls and the fabric is amazing... but my favorite part of the dress is the buttons on the pack. Satin buttons, lots of them all the way down the back, and so my mission began. Called Jack's Aunt Sandy who was a seamstress in New York and has made all of the other nieces dresses and I asked her! Well "yes" was the answer and here is the final product! Along with the veil that Jack's mom went and got for her, also a rosarie and a prayer book, and sweet little white gloves. I took her for her shoes, she had one request... high heels! we found them and before we could by them she had to go walk around on the tile in the shoe store to make sure the"clopped"!!!!!!! So Kelle's pictures today, she wore here cross that she was baptized in that her god-parents (Uncle Dom and Aunt Ria) got for her, and the new earrings with little diamond and pearls that Daddy and Mommmy got her! My friend Jacy came and did her hair and she was just basking in all of the fuss and fun! We got to Kelle's and I had to stop the lump in my throat when it all came together! Then she posts these pictures on her blog and I finally cried! The sweetness and innocence was captured perfectly and I could not be happier! to check out all of Kelle's amazing pictures go to www.enjoyingthesmallthings.blogspot.com

Book her now, because she is on the rise and I want to get her as much as I can before she is booked out months at a time!!!!!!

Spring Break

Justa few shots from Spring break! I have more of Easter and cousins and family, but for now.... a perfect day on break with friends! Spring break for us was just that... a break! We didn't do much, we slept in and hung out. We had a day at the beach, and even a day a Busch Gardens! I will post pictures soon! For now.... just this perfect, delightful relaxing day!

SIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't believe she is six today! I remember waiting for her, so excited!(really thought she was a boy) She is the completion to our little family! She is fun, and sweet, and sassy, and has a personality 100 times bigger than her cute little self! Six or sixteen or forty-six she will always be the baby! There is not a day that goes by that she doesn't crack us up! Her whiny little voice eats on your last nerve but it is part of who she is! We had a cake for her yesterday... she insisted that Aunt Shell make her cake. We had lasagna, and eggballs, chicken. wine and yes.... CAKE! She is part of a great big fun, dynamic, loud Italian family, and adds her own little bit of "Lucarelli" to the gang! I love her... I sooooo love her! Thank you God for this little piece of heaven! Happy 6th birthday to my baby!

P.S. Happy Anniversary to Michelle and Chet on a long lasting marriage! You two are an inspiration!!!!!!

P.S.S. Kuddos to me on her "bling" shirt w/ "6" studded in rinestones. I saw it in a catalog for $34.99 and made it myself for under$10.00! Go mama!!!!