December 5

I'm playing blog catch-up today; I spent most of the weekend rushing to finish editing pictures for some families, and ended up neglecting pictures of my own. I suppose that's how it goes. But tonight? I missed blogging tonight because Chris and I went to a ball.  What fun we had!

I spent the morning running around like a crazy person - a photo session at 8:30, then to Target for some necessities, then to find shoes for the ball (a hazard of being a stay-at-home mom for 6+ years is the complete lack of fancy shoes), then home to edit photos that I promised to have done today. 

Chris is such a supportive husband, and it didn't even phase him to be solely responsible for the kids most of the day. I am lucky to have him!

He took these awesome pictures of Eli, playing in Lily's Halloween costume from last year. You know, the one I worked so hard to make and then she refused to wear? That one. At least Eli likes it now.

I don't care if Lily did refuse to wear it - it is a masterpiece.

Also, Eli is adorable.

In the course of my morning's errands, I found these awesome shoes on super-duper clearance for $5.97. And I had a coupon. You have no idea how thrilled I was. My dress was on clearance for $13.99, the shoes ended up costing $4.48, and I got a whole arm party of bracelets for $9. All told, I spent less than $30 for my ensemble, and I felt fabulous. It was an all-around win!

(Caleb said the shoes look like they're made of aluminum foil, and I have to say agree. Still, I love them. And oh, you should have seen how the children reacted when I brought them home! The three that can walk all had to take turns wearing them, and the older two each insisted that the shoes fit them perfectly. It was so much fun. Even if I only wear them once, they are worth every penny.)

I got home in time to nurse Eli and put him down for his afternoon nap. 

(I promise I was wearing a white shirt - this photo is in no way indecent.)

Look at those puffy lips!

My mom and Jenny came over to watch the kids while Chris and I went out, but I waited much too long to begin getting ready so everything was hectic. Plus, I have no idea how to do anything with my hair. I haven't bought makeup or hair products or anything in at least 7 years, so I was basically waiting for my fairy godmother to come along and bippity-boppity-boo me into Cinderella, and it didn't happen. 

Still, we made time to take pictures before we left.

 Not bad, I say!

The ball was a charity event for Missouri State University, and the tickets were paid for by Chris' employer. We sat at a table with his boss, a few co-workers, and their wives, and enjoyed cocktails and dinner and dancing; it was like prom all over again!

(Have I ever blogged the story and the pictures of the time Chris was my date to my senior prom? We were just friends at the time and I was adamant that he was totally not my type. We didn't even dance. Three years and a few months later, we were married. Ha!)

(What? You want a picture? OK.

This was nearly 17 years ago. He wore pink Keds with his tux. I made his boutonniere, and got my dress while on a mission trip to Mexico during spring break.)

(Does the classic photo make up for the excessive parentheses?)

Fun, fun, fun!

When we left, everyone in the house was crying.

Correction: all of the children were crying. The grown-ups kept it together.

We rushed out in a swirl of chaos, but Mom and Jenny handled everything and Chris and I had a smashing time. After dancing until I couldn't stand anymore (not used to those heels, remember?), we returned home to sleeping babies and a clean kitchen. 

How lovely.