For the first part of this story, be sure to check out my previous blog:
When a Family is in a Wedding..... Part 1
Most of the kids slept well, having spent the last of their energy splashing in a pool. Even I was able to go to sleep a little earlier than usual, however in the middle of the night, Sarah, who had been recovering from a cold earlier in the week began the "coughing phase" in the middle of the night.... poor girl! She was coughing pretty hard for awhile. I got out my bottle of peppermint oil, and the trick of smelling it seemed to help. Neither of us slept very well after that point, but we had to get up very early. I was able to get up and dressed for breakfast, and told the kids to wear the clothes they had traveled in the day before. (With all the planning and packing, I didn't think about needing an outfit to go out of our room for breakfast!)
A little bleary-eyed, we all traipsed down to the restaurant area and had our free complimentary breakfast... the kids were particularly excited to see sugar-coated cereal available, but I made all of them also have some scrambled eggs and protein as well. I asked Tony to call the older boys and to tell them to come down to eat, because I knew they'd think of skipping and today was NOT a day to skip breakfast. Concerned about keeping my own blood sugar level stable, when we left the day before, I made my green smoothie as usual, but then made a second one that was not foamy (left out the gelatin capsule) so it would fit in my thermos.... I carried the thermos down to the restaurant with me, and drank this while also eating eggs and bacon, so I probably had more protein than necessary, but I will say, it carried me through most of the rest of the day.
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| The view of the back of Sarah's hair when I finished it. |
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The one concern about taking the time to eat breakfast was that I knew I was going to be pushing it to get hair done before the wedding.... As soon as we got back into the room, I made sure to get my own hair done so I wouldn't have to rush last minute to take care of myself.
I, then, set up our "hair area" so I could quickly work on each of the girls' hair. I will say, working on hair in drama helped with this immensely. I only had one "hair rehearsal" earlier in the week, and knew from that that I really needed 2 hours, but really only had about 1 1/2 hours available, plus I knew I needed to make some changes from what I had done before. Thankfully, my 4yr. old's hair was pretty easy, just a matter of some sponge curlers, so got that set right away.... then, spent quite a bit of time curling Bethany's hair which refuses to be coaxed into a curl. Even with hair product and a curling iron, her curls still managed to start slipping out even before the wedding. I finished up with Sarah's hair, which in some ways was very easy, but I had to make the most changes with hers, and there was still a lot of curling.
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| Aren't they pretty? If only my foot were just a little longer.... |
All three ended up very lovely, however, I now had 10 minutes max to get myself dressed and ready to go... Oh, this scenario is all too familiar. I managed to get dressed and get my make up on very quickly, but found out immediately that my SHOES, which were a half size too long.... were really, really too long when I put my hose on... I couldn't walk in them!!!! I kept stepping out of them!!! I had to pick them up and run down the hallway to where the van was parked. This was not good, but no time left to find a solution!
As I finally got into the van (did I mention it was raining?) and Tony started the 20 minute drive to the church, I began to receive texts from each of my sons, and my son, Nathan, the groom, actually called and asked me where I was....
"Mom, where are you....?"
"We are just now leaving the motel...."
"Mom, the line up is in 5 minutes!!!"
"Nate, did I ever tell you that I was late to my own wedding...." <laughing a little here...pathetic attempt to lighten the moment.....though, it is true, I really was late..... >
"Mom! This isn't your wedding!!! This is mine!"
"Well, I can't change where we are or make us get there any faster. It will be ok. Delays happen all the time, and this will just be a short delay."
"Mom! You were supposed to be here!"
<Sigh> This was really the only time I felt emotional until much later.... I knew that in the end, my delay wouldn't matter much at all, but a momma can feel her child's anxiety as if it is in her very own soul, and I could feel his. It was definitely
not my goal to stress out my son on his wedding day!!!!
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| Perhaps I should've ironed? |
When we got there, the kids and I (after removing my shoes again) ran to the back rooms, and we helped the girls change into their dresses. Matt already had his suit on, and only needed his bow tie and jacket. Grabbing the pillows and baskets, the kids got into the line up and then I shuffled my way to the front of the lineup, yep.... in first position... I had to start off the whole thing... LOL... Thankfully, I could do the "stutter step" -- the take a step, pause, take a step, pause-- that is often done for wedding processions.... in fact, it was easier to walk in my shoes if I just did that all the time! LOL.... At the last minute, I stuffed some paper towels in my shoes so they were less likely to fall right off my feet as I went down the aisle. Caleb, my 15yo son, was my escort, and we thankfully never had any trouble with the "stutter step." We agreed that his Civil Air Patrol marching drills and my marching band training had come in handy.
The tricky part came when I got to the step to the altar area. I had to wait for Maria's mom, and then we both were to go up the step... the night before, with my regular shoes, I caught my sandal on a piece of carpeting on this step and tripped on it and flipped the carpet up! Thankfully, I didn't actually fall and hurt myself... LOL! Bounding up the step in these shoes was at least as tricky, even if I didn't trip this time!
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| Notice that as I am lighting mine, the other candle is already lit... |
Of course, I attempted to look suave and graceful as I carefully walked up to the candles that Maria's mother and I were to light. I was surprised to see lighters there, instead of little candles with long wicks... OK...I can do this, right? Well, someone can operate that lighter, I am quite sure, but I was not that person! I could not figure out how to start it at all.... childproofed, I'm sure.... and in my case, mom-proofed! At the time, all I could think about is how everyone was stressing the night before at the rehearsal that we were supposed to light our candles AT THE SAME TIME....I almost felt a bit of panic go through me! Once again, I am messing up the timing here......but, then, I started giggling a little, and Maria's mom shared with me her lighter, as she waited patiently, so I could do my job.
Oh, what a confidence building moment all of this was..... NOT! LOL! But, I had a good chuckle over it and managed to get down the step to my chair without tripping or falling, so in my mind, that was SUCCESS!
End of Part 2
To read Part 3, go to
When a Family is in a Wedding .... Part 3
Under His Wing.......
