You Wish You Could Weekend Like This

And now, the moment you've dreaded. Lots and lots of self-aggrandizing pictures of me and my family. If you get to the end of these, congrats.

the whole need-one-guy-to-stand-and-watch-other-guys-working thing starts young

 Being a most excellent wife, short on cash and a babysitter, I planned a surprise date night-in.

we dress for dinner around here. this is serious business

i need sleep

mmmmhm. this is how the other half lives. or the 53%. or 99%. or the 1%. or whatever.

Gianna really likes to take pictures, so we thought we'd do a little photo-boothing

no sleeping. ever.

aw

and done

 let's montage

"sad"

we were instructed to be "surprised."  i feel that brad looks more in the realm of "upset" or "extremely disturbed"

"mad" which according to Brad means "sexy snarl"

"hey Brad, let's take a normal picture!"

ok, this time, a normal one

our photographer. sporting new-to-her $2 pink sweats from Once Upon A Child

 Watching my kids play in the front yard on a crisp, fall day is magical. These are the moments that I stand there and forget the dirty kitchen and the mounds of laundry. Right now, I tell myself, all I need to do is tattoo this into my brain. I just want to fall on my knees thanking God for the ridiculous beauty and goodness in my life that I did nothing to deserve, and soak it in. I pray that when they are teenagers and driving me nuts, I'll think back to this and remember that I love them until I ache.

And if you know me, you know that now I need something to cut the agonizing tension of deep emotions

Lazy Sunday....after-Mass pre-nap coloring session

I promise never to do that again. Mostly because fooling with all these pictures and cropping them and spacing them and coming up with clever captions is far too mentally taxing. Back to the easy stuff, like unwanted parenting advice and lame crafts, tomorrow!