Natascha's 23 Today!

Today my step-daughter Natascha, turns 23. Taschy's always been cute, bubbly, and fun loving. As the only girl growing up with 5 brother's, she learned to hold her own. She always maintained a big sister, 'I'm in charge attitude' which helped keep the boys in line & I'm sure helped her keep her sanity!lol

She learned patience from the hours she had to sit on the baseball field, basketball courts & football fields, watching her brothers games.

She played soccer & softball when she was younger, but found that she truly loved cheerleading. She was always tiny, which gave her the opportunity for the prime 'showcase' position. It was perfect for her & suited her spirited, BIG personality. She was a flyer. She was lifted, balanced on wobbly young arms & thrown...sometimes dropped, all the while maintaining a smile. Year after year her cheer squad placed 1st at the Pop Warner Competitions.

As amazing as she was at cheering, she's even more incredible as a daughter & sister. No matter what's going on in her day, she'll drop everything if her family needs her. She is such a giving, caring, loving person.

During junior high & high school she became involved with her church youth group. This was when she fell in Love with the Lord & her husband, Jeremy.

Natascha & Jeremy

She began to set an example for her siblings. Showing through her words & actions what is truly important in this life. She was determined to make sure her brothers didn't travel down the wrong paths. Once again showing her incredible ability to lead & serve.

Today on her special day, I celebrate the amazing, beautiful, special young lady she is. I thank the Lord for blessing our family with her. She is a true gift to each one of us!

Happy Birthday Taschy...We love you!

 

Daddy's Princess

Our little girl growing up...marrying the love of her life!

I Wore It-Black to a Wedding

I guess I'm the only one who didn't know that it was okay to wear black to an evening wedding. I posted & you all answered with an overwhelming, "Wear It!"

so here it is...

i loved the top part of the dress...

To my surprise, TONS of people were wearing black!

It was a gorgeous outside wedding at the Dana Point Marriott on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. The bride was absolutely breathtaking!

see the sun setting behind the bride & groom?

It was such a fun wedding-they even had a picture booth with dress up stuff! They put one set of pics in a photo album for the wedding couple & the guests kept the other ones.

Such a fun idea to capture your guests enjoying themselves...

it clicked so fast it took a few tries to get it right!
(double click to view)

I won the center piece...

just the flowers, but aren't they amazing?



Thanks again for your advice...my vintage dress was a hit!

The Game-The Wedding and Race for the Cure

We lost our football game last night by 7 points, but considering how many penalties we had & that our starting quarterback went out hurt, I have to say that most of the parents were pleased w/ that score, it could've been worse.

Tonight's the wedding & after all of your help on my "Fashion Police: I Need Help" & the fact that I found out the bridesmaids will be wearing long black dresses, I've decided to wear it. Thanks for ALL your comments/help! I think I'm going to turn to you guys all the time for my questionable fashion outfits!

On Sunday my friend/manager Marsha, my bosses wife, Marianne Park (who has beaten breast cancer) & a few more friends will be walking in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure (click link to find a race in your area).

I will also be walking in honor of my friend
Joanne Phillips who passed away last year from this terrible disease.

Most of us feel so helpless when we/ or our loved ones are struck by cancer. I've made a decision to try to be pro active in helping raise money for the research & ultimate cure of ALL cancer. It doesn't take much to get up early on a Sunday morning, pay $35.00 (each) & get a group of friends together to walk or run a 5K.

It's simple...and it WILL make a difference.

Today Is the Big Day!

So today is the BIG day. Natascha is getting married to her boyfriend of 6 years.

As the step-mom part of the wedding process is finding the perfect dress, shoes, & accessories. I need to look conservative but not frumpy. I must've tried on 30 dresses before I picked this one. Besides two ladies who were trying clothes on in the dressing room were ranting over how good it looked on me. This was the only one they said anything about so this was the winner!

Dress-London Times (found at Ross)
It's fitted & looks better on!

I normally would NEVER where ruffles (kind of a tomboy) but the minute I put it on it just fit perfect & the color was suttle enough not to clash with her mom & mother-in-laws dresses.

The nightmare of the whole process was finding the perfect shoes. I can't get anything "too high" because my husband is my exact same height & he hates when I tower over him. So 10 stores later (no, I'm not even exaggerating) I finally found these:

Nine West found at DSW


accessories- forever 21 of course!
What do you think...earrings on the left or necklace & earrings on the right?

Still debating on which one to go with, but I did find the PERFECT nail color to go with it!

Nail Color: Wet n Wild new shade-231 Shield/Bouchlier
Sorry about the foot pic-couldn't get the same effect of how cool the color is by just a bottle shot.

I woke up early this morning, excited for Tasha & her day. I looked out the window to see what the weather was like and found this-


I thought, "How perfect is that, a double rainbow on her wedding day!" The rainbows seemed to come together as one at the bottom. What a beautiful symbolism of this momentous day!

Here are some pictures from the dress rehearsal.



Look at the love on his face...Priceless!


Well I'm off to get ready!

CONGRATULATIONS NATASCHA & JEREMY!

WE LOVE YOU GUYS!

He's Home!

Awe, the good ol' days when they were all with me!

I just got back from picking Jullien up from the airport. After 7 LONG months of missing him, I could hardly wait to hang out, talk, joke around & just enjoy his company. Well that lasted all of 20 minutes!

His friends also knew he was getting home tonight & they stopped by & took him away! So much for an 18 year old wanting to hang out with his mommy.

Good thing I planned a vacation while he's home. We're going on a surfing/camping trip to northern California, just us & all our boys (Tasha's getting married on Friday & will be on her honeymoon...don't think they would want to share an R.V. with all of us!LOL!)

I'm going to get almost an entire week of hanging out with them without the friends around to take them away.

I'm trapping them out in the middle of no where and making them enjoy our company!hahahha!

I always come up with great plans to have everything work out exactly the way I want them...lots of years of practice!

I'm just soooo happy to finally have him home.

Bridal Shower Fun

Last weekend my step daughter, Natascha had her 3rd Bridal Shower. I wasn't able to make it to the last one because of my contact lense fiasco/ER visit. So I was happy to be able to make it this time.

The food was AMAZING...I took several pictures, well you know me, I'm always taking pictures, but I took more than normal. This Brunch was to die for & the lady who put it on made everything herself, even homemade granola!

Tasha had a huge turnout & got so many presents, I don't know how she is going to fit everything into their apartment!

It's exactly 1 month till her wedding...I can't believe it!




Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!



Tashy & her soon to be sister in laws.



Tashy & Me


These are cupcakes they boxed up for us to take home.



The happy couple!



My fav was the French Toast Casserole...of course!

Graduation, Wedding & Summer...Oh My!

We have exactly one week until the kids are out of school. But this summer is going to be very busy for the Petrarca household.

My stepson Dillon graduates on June 17th, with honors...we are so proud of him.

On July 16th, my stepdaughter Natascha is marrying the love of her life, Jeremy, whom she's been dating for the past 7yrs., so he is already family.

Then as we progress into summer, we have football (passing league, two-a-days & action picture taking) for Elijah.

Just when you think, "Wow, life is really changing as the kids get older, we'll finally slow down a little bit!" Then I realized, "There is always going to be something going on."

What was I thinking?

We have 6 kids!

But I wouldn't change a thing.

Can You Help With A Wedding?

A friend of mine was just on the news trying to barter her services (babysitting, cleaning, sewing, mowing lawns) anything to help pay for her wedding. She is a full time nursing student who spent several years caring for her paralyzed (from meningitis) terminally ill mother, who recently passed away. She has been engaged for 9 years. Her wedding day has been put off due to her mothers illness, money, time and school.

She now wishes to finally marry the love of her life. She is offering her services on Craigslist to fulfill her dream, in exchange for a place to have her wedding, make up artist, hairstylist, flowers, photography, cake...all the wedding necessity's. If you are able to help with your services, please let me know and I will forward the information to her.

Be Sure To Read Her Story..She's AMAZING! Here are the links to the stories:

http://begbarterorbride.com/
http://cbs2.com/local/Kerry.Coryell.Beg.2.1094729.html
HER BLOG
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kerry-says-wedding-2500769-mom-ago

I know there is so many caring, giving people out there who live in Southern California. If you think you or someone you know might be able to unselfishly help someone's dream come true, please let me know!