One Hundred and Thirty Nine....

that is the number of HOURS until Julia's First Communion ceremony begins and the dress is DONE!!!! I guess given the unpredictable nature of our lives lately I can see why Auntie Peggy and Daddy wanted to see a completed gown. I am , however, now deprived of a critical motivator to get all the other things on the 'to do' list accomplished! The cake is ordered and I just need to leave 3+ hours of my Friday open in order to make the drive to Indiana to pick it up...yeah, you'd think with the number of bakeries in the Chicago metropolitan area that I could find one closer but noooo not the Mahoney family. We loooove Stephanie's cakes (and cupcakes as Julia requested as her part of the design) so a trek to the pastoral countryside is in order. BFF/Cousin Deirdre and Julia are having a joint party and it's a good thing they adore each other because trying to merge their very disparate styles has been a trick! Deirdre wanted a cross shaped cake with pink roses.....bet you know how Julia greeted that idea. Easy enough fix though since the pale blue frosting on the tie-dyed cupcakes which will fill the spaces around the cross shaped cake are just her 'piece of cake'....sorry it just wanted to be typed! Now to get the typically Irish relatives to actually RSVP so we can finalize the caterer's count. Then there's the matter of finding an evening this week to fit in a portrait session....... Front view....just needs a last minute steam to get the final creases to relax. She so forbid me to add any 'ruffles or bling' as she called it. I would so have added Swaroski rhinestones and a flounce or two at the hemline if it was my call!

Back view...I had a bunch more of the little flowers scavenged from the scraps of the bodice material that I thought I'd put on the veiling but she just about turned inside out with disgust at the idea. "That would be so giiiiiiiiirly!" was her response, sigh. I just haven't figured out what is so darn wrong with a girl being girly?

See, this is one happy Julia! Fresh from soccer practice with wind blown hair free of any clips or scrunchies and plenty of dirt to boot!

No good soccer star makes it through a spring workout in the Midwest without becoming well acquainted with mud! We've had rain 4 out of the past 5 days and all I can say is that at least it isn't SNOW anymore!!!!!!!!!!!! The frustrating thing now is the uncertainty of game time. Three of the four games scheduled on Friday and Saturday involved strapping on shin guards and cleats, donning freshly laundered uniforms, making ice filled water bottles, and racing to fields all over town only to have the weather sirens blow before the starting whistle!!!! Then starts the half hour huddle in the minivan as we wait to see if an 'all clear' siren sounds...which never did! Now we have to try and squeeze three make up games into our already tightly packed spring season.

One of the benefits of huge Irish families is the variety of professionals who 'owe' you some office time! My brother, the chiropractor, has determined that the damage was muscular and limited and thanks to his magic hands I no longer need the canes! Actually I am even pain free when walking or sitting it's just the movement to the sitting or standing position that still gives me pain. ...and forget about bending to pick up anything I drop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At this pace I'm hoping that this incident will be resolved by the weekend festivities. One of the deficits of having a huge Irish family are the number of siblings who hear the story and now nag me about my lack of physical conditioning!!! Guess this is a pretty clear warning to get off my hiney and get exercising.........