Not only am I going to be Mother of the Bride BUT also Mother of the Groom!

Congratulations Benjamin and Allison!

Mark and I are just bursting with happiness!  Not only did Ashton become engaged to her high school sweetheart Eric in January but my middle child Benjamin became engaged to Allison, his girlfriend of ten years,  a few days before she received her Master's degree in Children's Literature from Simmons College in Boston in May.  They will be married on August 9, 2014.

 

Who would ever guess that two of three of my children would become engaged to their longtime loves within three and a half months of each other?

 

I don't think I mentioned Ashton and Eric's wedding date...which was set the day of their engagement party in February...August 2, 2014.

 

Calgon..........take me away!!!

 

 

 

Here is what I have been up to lately....

Forgotten dresses get a second chance - Boothbay Register

I am going to be "THE MOTHER OF THE BRIDE"!

I am going to be the mother of the bride!  Ashton and Eric became engaged on Saturday the 19th, on the anniversary of their first date seven years ago!  Eric was a true gentleman getting down on the cold ground at a favorite spot of theirs on bended knee and asked her to marry him!

As many of you know Ashton is the baby of the family.  She and I originally started this blog under the title of "Mommy and Me" to document her Senior year of high school.  And after she graduated and started college I changed the blog title to Life Is What You Make It. 

Anyhow, Ashton and Eric started dating when she was 14 (oh I know, I know!)...there were many many ground rules set down by Mumma....no riding with him in his car, only visiting after school here, etc.,etc. I must say I had reservations, she was just a young teenager for petes sakes!   And here they are today, she is 21 and a nursing student, an EMT and a CNA.  She goes to college full-time, works on the ambulance when she can and works in a nursing home on weekends.  Eric is 24 and works for LLBean, manufacturing those famous LLBean boots.  He has a degree in Criminal Justice as well. 

I can't explain how I felt the night they became engaged...I had suspected perhaps the proposal would come on their anniversary date, they went to Boston Friday and stayed at the Omni Parker Hotel and went to a Boston Celtics game.  Her brother Benjamin works for the Celtics and told me later on that he thought something might be up when he saw the couple at the game and then again the next day when they visited Benjamin and Allison at their apartment.  Allison told Benjamin she too suspected something was up...there was just this "feeling" we all had! 

Mumma, being on edge constantly checked Facebook thinking perhaps something would be posted on their pages...a hint perhaps.  I kept my cellphone with me at all times, hoping I would get a phone call that they were engaged.  Nope.  They came home to Maine.  Nothing. No ring.

10:48 p.m. that evening the phone woke us up, "hi" said Ashton "can we stop by?"  This was it!  This was it!  I knew it, I knew it!  Mark and I scrambled around and waited and waited for them to arrive here.  When the door opened and I saw the huge smiles on both faces Mumma's dreams had started to come true....Ashton's ring is beautiful and drumroll please....in the shape of a heart!  Eric had done a wonderful job in picking out her ring, he saved for it and worried over it for months. 

Afterwards it really hit me, my little girl with the big brown eyes is getting married, building a new life with Eric, hoping for a home and children one day, growing old with each other...I couldn't be a happier Mumma.  Mark and I love Eric as if he were our own son and his family and ours have become close over the years, starting to forge a wonderful bond in common..our childrens new life entwined with ours.

I have started a new blog to follow all the wonderful happenings that will occur in the next year or so...please come along and share the happiness and I could use any ideas or hints that anyone might have in order for me to survive this!


Oh, and another great thing...Ashton crossed "Room Service" off her bucket list...while at the Omni Parker they ordered room service, a small pizza and two tiny Boston Creme pies...thats my girl!

Here is the link to my new blog...I will keep this one as well.
http://ashtonandericgetmarried.blogspot.com/2013/01/shes-engaged_21.html

A very Merry Christmas indeed....

Christmas this year was wonderful!  We were so very happy to have our special little one spend Christmas Eve afternoon and night with us as well as Christmas Day!  Mr. B as we affectionately call him, was 19 months old a few days before Christmas and what fun we had with him over the holiday.  He loved the little tree I decorated for him with a special ornament made for him by a kind person who knew we have him on the weekends.  I will tuck the ornament away into a special box for him.  One day when he opens the box I hope the ornament will remind him of his "family" here.

Mr. B attended my sister's traditional Christmas Eve gathering with us.  Another kind person donated the cutest little outfit for him to wear.  There were tiny black dress shoes, black dress pants with a sharp crease, a vest and tie and a dress shirt!  Oh my, he looked even cuter if possible!  He seemed to enjoy the dressing up probably due to all the oohs and ahhs he received whenever he entered a room!

Mr. B thoroughly enjoyed the family get-togther, receiving all kinds of presents from my family.  There was an awesome big book from Benjamin and Allison, two little trucks from Margaret and her family which he promptly pushed around the floor, making "truck" noises all the while.  My mom gave him a cuddly little moose which he promptly hugged and a soft teddy bear to cuddle with.  He was the life of the party, providing great dancing!  He loves music and can dance the night away!

After returning home from the party Christmas Eve, Ashton got out one of our favorite Christmas books and "Uncle" Eric read him "The Night Before Christmas".  Mr. B settled down happily and listened attentively to the story.  I can't even begin to express how happy we were to share this special holiday with him. 

Off to bed Mr. B went in his brand new Christmas pajamas, we have a tradition in that Ashton and I get a new pair of Christmas pajamas each year to wear on Christmas Eve and then Christmas day when the Lorrain family gathers together for their family Christmas and breakfast.

Christmas morning Mr. B was up about 7 a.m. which is a great time indeed!  Most weekends when he is here he likes to wake up the household around 5 a.m.!  Santa had filled a stocking for Mr. B and he received crayons and Play-Doh and Boston Red Sox socks (we are New Englanders after all!) and Boston Celtics socks...my middle child, Benjamin works in sales for the Boston Celtics.  He opened gifts from his mom and grandparents, they arrived late Christmas Eve afternoon, just in time!  He received a pair of Christmas pjs from his family so I changed him into them for the next big event...the Lorrain family Christmas get-together.  He is loved very dearly by Mark's sister Christina and he loves her right back.  He will walk by her wedding photo here and stop and point at her in the photo.  When she stops by to see him he runs with outstretched arms to her every time.  He happily opened presents from Mark's entire family, oh I wished I could tell him how very much he has impacted so many people's lives....he got a piggy bank and music player and lots of new clothes...he must be the best dressed little boy ever. 

We took him to his foster home later that day.  He wore his new raccoon hat given to him by Eric's family and happily brought his new music player with him.  His foster mom sent me a text later that day...Mr. B fell asleep on their family dog...such a precious way to end our day, an innocent little one and a soft, cuddly dog napping....

I have tears filling my eyes as I type this post, we are so very very happy to be so involved in his life even though we aren't relatives. I have such a special bond with Mr. B...I pray daily that he will have a happy, loving life and that he can be part of our lives forever....Ashton and Eric's, mine and Mark's, my family and Mark's family...he is truly a gift from God that we have been fortunate to receive.  We have been blessed to have him weekends since September and never know when one will be the last visit...so many mixed emotions over this.  I just pray and hope that he knows how very very much I love him.