Painting with The Peanut Gallery, otherwise known as "My Family"

I know, I know....it's been forever since I've posted anything. 

I'm in a blogging rut....(I'll worry about that later..) 

Though a couple of weeks ago we had a GREAT family event!! My brother got married and our whole family came from Indiana for the wedding!! All my brothers and sisters, their kids and spouses, were in one picture! That happens only every 3 years or so...

( I LOVE this photo!) 

Most of us got together the week before the wedding and camped out at Lake Scott State Park. They have some really nice cabins. Not only did we camp out and climb hills and roasted marshmallows, we also had painting parties! We split up the guys and the girls because someone had to watch the kids while we painted! 

First two of my three sisters, my two sister in laws, mom, grandma and cousin painted outside in the campground shelter. It was great, despite the 95 degree heat and breeze. 

I've never had paint dry so quickly! 

Painting with these ladies was great! It was just as I expected it would be. They painted, asked questions, and came up with some really great ideas! 

Overall it was a great painting party! Very much like all my other painting parties. 

We painted a pasture with a barn, trees, a fence row and some flowers. 

But then the next day I painted the very same picture with the guys.....

...oh boy...

You know, sometimes when I host painting parties I tell folks that having a beer or a glass of wine before helps some people relax and paint. But I think my brothers took that advice just a bit too far. They came in pretty rowdy! (I had to have two beers right off to get through the night!!) 

Our family had rented two cabins for the week and we crowded the guys into one cabin for an evening of painting. 

My dad (on the left) and my three brothers...

...my two Okie cousins who had just arrived. We didn't even let them eat! 

(Thanks for being a good sport guys!) 

..and my brother in law. Yeah, he painted a fish...I ran out of big canvases!! 

All that was left was a little fish.....whoops. 

(Yep...that's my crazy husband in the background ....I'm not sure what that face is all about!) 

I've done about 40 painting parties and they've always been pretty relaxing for me! I've always enjoyed teaching people and coming up with new ideas for paintings. I love working with people and helping them solve their painting problems. 

But painting with my brothers was not relaxing. They sure know how to rattle my cage! 

My brothers were "The Peanut Gallery"!!  I chugged two beers just to deal with all the heckling!  

Though they were loud which was a lot of fun!! Sometimes painters can be a bit too quiet. 

But not my family of guys !! 

I guess maybe I deserved it though....

I'm the oldest...and I guess maybe  I was kind of bossy growing up. Especially to my brothers. 

Heck I'm at least ten years older than all of my brothers so they probably got tired of me (a second mom) a long time ago. 

Maybe they got it all out of their system though. I sure hope so.

I'm not sure if I ever want to paint with guys again if guys in general act anything like my brothers!! 

I was proud of everyone though! For as crazy of a week that we had with all wedding stuff I thought the painting parties went really well. My whole family did a great job painting! 

Normally I take a group photo of artists and their paintings but we were pretty tired by the time we were finished and didn't get around to it. 

I'm hoping they will all send me pics of themselves holding their paintings...

...HINT, HINT!!! 

...(9/22) and my mom just sent me a couple more pics!! 

My brothers Mater, Mountain Man, John Deere and my dad. 

And my mom and two sister in laws (sorry, no cool nicknames for you two...yet!) 

Oklahoma Wedding!

Whew!! 

Am I ever tired! The kids and I just returned from an Oklahoma wedding. Our cousin was married on Saturday about 8 hours away but we'd actually been gone since Tuesday night. My parents, a sister and two brothers came down earlier in the week to spend time with Mountain Man in southern Oklahoma. We drove down (5ish hours) Tuesday night to see all of them, Wednesday we spent the day with them and some other Oklahoma family there, Thursday we drove through pouring rain a few hours to the northeast corner of Oklahoma, Friday we had the rehearsal, Saturday was the wedding and Sunday we drove home. What a great week! Long and tiring but well worth it. 

Now, if I wanted to be mean to a bunch of my Indiana family I'd post photos of our trip chronologically. But I know there were some who didn't make it down for the wedding who would love to see some photos. I didn't get as many as I would have liked but I'll share what I have. 

Our cousin Al!! Isn't she just gorgeous! 

She tied one of our Grandpa's belt buckles to her bouquet. He had passed away this past May and yes I was tearing up taking this photo. 

Al married a wonderful Oklahoma rancher/farmer and in true western style the whole wedding party wore cowboy boots! 

Al asked if my kids would be in the wedding and I was happy to oblige. Though Friday night after the rehearsal I was nervous that my three exhausted kids would cause mayhem but they pulled through and did fabulous. 

Yahoo wasn't a flower girl but a sign girl! She carried a piece of barn siding right before Al that said "Here Comes Your Bride!" How cute!!! 

See those three little boys standing so perfectly still? Their mothers promised them ice cream and money if they behaved like absolute angels!!! 

I don't know about you but J, the groom, looks just a bit nervous to me! 

What a wonderful couple they are! Too bad we don't live closer though. 

I didn't SEE this part but I HEARD that when Al and J were kissing that my boys, the junior groomsmen, covered their mouths like it was gross and looked away. Anyone get a picture of that?? 

During the rehearsal I asked J if he had made the archway backdrop for the wedding, it was gorgeous! 

"You mean the Outhouse?" he asked, "We're getting married in Outhouse! But don't tell Al that, she doesn't think it's funny!" 

Oh, J will sure fit into this family! 

At one point before the wedding the photographers weren't in the dressing room and Al asked if I'd take some pictures of the girls. I was able to watch the bridesmaids pray over the bride. What a wonderful group of women these are! 

Party time!! 

I have practically no photos of the reception because Yahoo was asleep on my arm for most of it and the rest of the time I was cutting and serving cake! The kids and I had to leave way too early to get started on the 8 hour drive back. We had such a wonderful time with family I sure didn't want to leave. But isn't it nice to have a family that will drive so far to see one another? I still feel blessed! 

A Wedding!!, made by hand...

My twenty something-ish cousin just got engaged over the weekend. YAY!! 

I'm so excited for her! She's been living in Oklahoma the last few years, about 5 hours from me, and while her fiance and his family are from Oklahoma, her whole family is back in Indiana. Once I read her engagement status on Facebook (of course!) and being relatively close to her geographically, I offered her as much help with her wedding as I could give her....because face it, most of us aren't going to have the green to put on a wedding like Prince What's His Name did over the pond a few months ago. 

Offering her my help got me to thinking about DR and my wedding. Boy, did we get help that really kept the cost of our wedding low! Of course it didn't hurt that I'm a cheapskate, miser, tight wise with my money either.  

First our reception was in the town park which I received as a wedding gift from a couple of guys on the park board whom I just happened to coach track with. 

If you look behind my sister on the tent poles you'll see bundles of wheat and flowers, which my sisters and I picked out of fields and ditches. And that big beautiful sunflower arrangement on the table? It's in a Ball Canning Jar. Yep, I had two fabulous sisters who did ALL the flowers; bouquets, boutonnieres, table arrangements...and they did a great job! 

Friends of ours served the food and another friend roasted half a hog for the reception as a wedding gift too. Looking back, I'm really thankful for all those gifts that helped me have a wedding party! 

My mom made my wedding dress and the bridesmaids' dresses. (Ugg...sorry my lovely sisters... This photo suddenly brings to mind that movie 27 Dresses! And no, you can't wear it again!!) 

Come to think of it, in the past 9 years my mom has sewn 3 of our wedding dresses and probably a total of 10 bridesmaid dresses for 4 different weddings! Mom, you are a saint! 

For our wedding, to keep costs down and to add a more personal touch, I designed our wedding invitations. 

And being that our wedding was in August when guests arrived they received our program printed on a fan. The front was a drawing I had made and a poem and the back had all the pertinent stuff you usually find on a wedding program. 

If my cousin is anything like me *cheapskate*, which I'm pretty sure she is, she'll probably want to save some money on her wedding. From the dress, food, cake, photos, flowers, gifts, etc, etc.....what kind of advice can I give my cousin on her big wedding day? What is the best help you received on your wedding day? What are some great wedding resources that most people don't know about?