Me to You

My little brother celebrated his birthday this week.  And being the good big sister that I am, I thought I’d share some lovely pics of him growing up for my Fro Me to You post this week.  Cuz’ nothing says happy birthday like having your big sister post your picture on the internet for the world to see.

Happy Birthday Little Brother!

Here we are at one of his birthdays.  I am guessing he was five or 6, making me 8 or 9.  Looks like I gave him a dream team poster. 

We look pretty dressed up for birthday gifts, so I am guessing his birthday fell on a Sunday that year and he got to open his gifts before we left for church.

And here we are on a family excursion to see the Cherry Blossoms in DC.  I am guessing I am in about fifth or sixth grade.  Please take notice of the turquoise shorts with the tucked in shirt and my favorite, the coordinating turquoise “koosh ball” earrings. I was stylin, don’t ya think?

He is my only brother.  While we definitely had our moments growing up, I’d say we were pretty close.  I have fond memories of playing Star Wars and GI Joes with him (I was always Princess Leah cooking food and cleaning house for the troops).  I was a bossy big sister and it took me awhile to figure out that he didn’t need “another mom” as he would tell me time and again.  Once I learned that, we were great friends. 

We were both in each other’s weddings and have been to the hospital to welcome our new niece’s and nephews.   I’m excited that our kids are close in age and hope that they the cousins will be good friends growing up.   

I am thankful to have him as my brother, friend, and my children’s uncle.

Happy Birthday Bro!  I love you lots!

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A few weeks ago Scott’s cousin was married in CA.  Since the groom was from Brazil, we were among many friends and relatives that weren’t able to attend the ceremony.  The family thoughtfully broadcasted the ceremony live on the internet.  I had never attending a wedding this way before. 

While we would have preferred to attend the wedding in person and share in their celebration with them, in some ways, it was the easiest way to watch the ceremony with our three kids present.

The kids were able to play during the ceremony without us having to worry about them disturbing anyone else.   My daughter made sure that all of the little people were present and lined up to see the ceremony,  while my son flew something around the room.

We were able to type messages to the bride and groom and they could talk back to us.  My daughter didn’t  quite grasp the fact that they couldn’t see her though.  Here she is holding up some signs for them. 

Eventually they got so out of control that even though they weren’t disturbing any of the other guests, they were disturbing us (first time I was ever body bashed while watching a wedding) so we sent them to their room to play. 

Every now and then they’d come out though.  At one point my son was marching through the room singing, “Pha-roah, Pha-roh, let my people go,  before God smites you with his hand” not your typical wedding song.  After the ceremony was over and we got to “talk” to the beautiful bride and groom as well as extended family members, we went back to the kids room. 

It appears that they thought a fun way to play quietly was to take every.single. paper out of their binders and scatter them over their entire bedroom.  Nice, huh?

We were so thankful that we had the opportunity to share in bride and groom’s special day from the other side of the country.  I’m pretty certain though that they won’t be including these pictures in their wedding album.  For more pictures that won’t see the inside of a scrapbook, check out We are THAT Family.

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As a kid I really enjoyed being on stage.  Had a rather significant part in our church musical when I was in third grade which led me to believe I had skill…even did a few plays in middle school (with embarrassing tales of their own to be shared on future Thursdays) but the high school band plays were my low points.

Each spring our school would put on a play written by our band director.  She was a kind lady with a heart of gold.  She wrote these plays set in the time of Laura Ingalls Wilder, with the small town charm and old dresses.  I believe there were two if not three of these productions.

Each year I’d go to try outs where we’d get to read through portions of the play.  And each year I’d be hopeful that this would be my year to land a significant part. 

Only each year when she would announce the parts, I was always given the part of a character who strangely wasn’t in the play when we did the read through.  Like magic I’d go to see the list of parts and find a new character had appeared on the cast and my name was beside her. My director would write in a part, giving me a line or two that used to belong to someone else.   Overnight the nice country family had an extra daughter named Carrie Jo!  I’d be sitting on stage during the family scenes, stringing popcorn or stirring in a wooden bowl and I’d get to say my line or two. 

I of course saw right through the Carri Jo facade and knew she was just being kind to poor Crystal.  While it was disappointing in some ways, in others it worked out fine.  I got to go to practice each day and hang out with all my friends while doing very little work.  Looking back I have nothing but fond memories of the times spent rehearsing observing in the church auditorium.  Though I do get a chuckle out of my made up role in the production. 

Check out We Are THAT Family if you’re interested in reading others blasts from the past!

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