7 Kids, 1 Wedding

It’s been officially 10 days since I’ve become Mrs. Woodsman. Our wedding was great, we were only $10 over budget (that will be another entry) and now we’re finally back into full swing of life. I feel like I have so much to share but decided to begin where I got a ton of compliments…KIDS!

I understand that it’s a completely personal preference whether to include kids in a wedding and on a guest list. I come from a big, very close-knit family. My brother and I are the babies of a huge group of first cousins and closer in age to our second cousins. We’re all like siblings and to the younger ones more like aunts and uncles. If I could have included them all I would have.

From the beginning I could only be insanely excited that I was marrying into the Woodsman’s wonderful family AND he was already uncle to 5 of the best kids! Done deal, they were all going to be in our wedding. This meant 3 flower girls (nieces), 2 ring bearers (nephews) and 2 ushers (cousins) all under the age of 11. There were skeptics but we knew that this is our family and we honestly couldn’t think of our wedding without them.

Our flower girls looked so cute and were defiantly stars of the show. So many compliments on how cute they were and I must say my gut of not making them look like mini-brides was win! Anyways, one of them even caught my bouquet! A memory that will forever stick out is while in line waiting to head down the aisle my oldest niece (I just LOVE saying I have nieces and nephews…proud Aunt here!) turned to me and said it was the best day of her life. My heart melted and so did my fear of tripping! One of our nephews, the main ring bearer did a great job of keeping our actual rings safe and looked so handsome in his tux. My cousins who were our ushers owned seating people, from what I hear they seated like it was their job!

Each one of them rose to the occasion and we never had a doubt in our minds that they wouldn’t. They kept the order before the ceremony, got the dancing starting and kept the party going until after midnight. They helped keep us grounded…completely oblivious to the enormous stress of a wedding day. They were there to have the time of their lives and have fun…something we should take a step back and think about.

So thank you…

Kyle, Ethan, Trent, Maya, Olivia, Emma and Jackson!

We love you.

Check out some awesome photos from our wedding taken by friend C. Wade Photography !

Flamingo Headbands?!

Hello all! It’s back to some craftiness for this gal. This coming Saturday I’ll be in a craftshow with my FSIL. I honestly don’t have many details about it, except that it’s a PTO fundraiser, 12 hours scrapbook crop and craft show (I will not be staying 12 hours!). Here’s the school’s site if any of you are from the Richmond/McHenry, IL area and want to stop by Nippersink Middle School to say hi!

Ok to my actual point…this past Christmas I made my future niece and nephews (5 in total and I can’t even begin to say how excited I am to have nieces and nephews!) feather stuff and they LOVED it! In the words of Emma who is 6 “Did you make these from a flamingo?!” I made the girls (very girly pinks and purples) headbands and hair clips and the boy a simple feather charm on a leather cord. I never in a million years thought that they’d like them as much as they did….surprisingly they were so easy to make! Normally when I’m using natural feathers like pheasant I spend hours picking out “matching” feathers and feathers that are up to my quality standards. This was completely different. With all those fluffy neon-dyed feathers, I didn’t have to spend the time sifting through bags and bags to find nice ones. These might be just what I need to boost my sales a bit.

Over all I thought they turned out so cute and the girls have been wearing them pretty often and they’ve stood up to their wearing. With my FSILs encouragement I made a ton for this upcoming craft show. I’ve even had an order for a headband/hair clips. My hopes it that these sell at the PTO Craftshow and who knows, maybe they’ll sell well online. Right now I don’t have any pictures taken but I’ll be sure to post some from the show.

Wish me luck!

They Call Me Big Sista?!

“If a kid cannot bring out the true meaning of Christmas, ya gotta be in pretty bad shape.” @Evangelic_Diva

That quote comes directly from a Twitter friend and I just can’t stress how true it is. As with every holiday season I am reminded how lucky I am to have the close friends and family. I am also very thankful for my Little Sister, Cassandra. She’s 14 (almost 15), freshman at a college prep high school and just about the sweetest girl I have ever met. Believe me, I could go on for hours about all the things I admire about her and all the great things she has and will accomplish…but I won’t :) More importantly I feel that it’s important to tell people about my experience with my little Sis and how we got to where we are now.

It was about 3 years ago that I decided to join the program. I was working at my first “real world” job as a graphic designer, and I felt like something was missing. All of my life (thanks to Girl Scouts as well as my mom) I have volunteered. From reading to kids in the cancer unit at Lutheran General to making Christmas decorations with the seniors at Rainbow Hospice, I am no stranger to giving back (and to the heartbreak that goes along with it as well). I had to find something that with my schedule I’d be able to do and after much research I found the Big Brothers Big Sisters Organization. What appealed to me was that it’s not a rehabilitation program, it’s more of an assistance program. I’m not acting like a therapist or trying to change a kid. I’m simply there to help nurture and be a good role model to a kid who might not have one.

When I told people about me trying to get into the program, I was surprised about how many negative things people said; mostly about how long it takes to get a match. I wasn’t going anywhere and was in no hurry, so I gathered my references and signed up. After numerous interviews, plenty of questions and 10 months I was finally matched with Cassandra.

Fast forward to now (almost 2 years later)…we’re closer than I ever imagined. I’d like to think of our relationship as one that was meant to be. It hasn’t been the easiest thing, but it’s been very rewarding in so many ways. Being a “Big”/mentor is something that takes a lot of time, and lots of creativity. I’m lucky that my Little is just as easy to please and laid back as I am. Never did I think that sitting on my couch, eating pizza, watching a movie would be one of the highlights of our time together. This also proves what a lot of people miss while in the program. It’s not about the money or fancy things that you take your Little to do, it’s all about the time that you spend together. There have been times that we’ve been driving to an outing or over a meal that we’ve shared the most. It’s those moments that I truly believe that I was meant to do this. She’s no longer a “match” but my family and for that, I’m grateful.

So I guess to sum it up, it’s a wonderful program and I couldn’t be happier with the relationship that I’ve made with my Little. I’d also urge anyone who can put a child they initially don’t know before themselves to become a Big. It might seem like a lot of time to some, but really it’s just another member of your family you want to spend time with.

It’s one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made, and can’t image my life without my sister Cassandra. She makes me proud in every way...just sayin’ is all!