Amy's Bachelorette Party

This weekend was Amy's Bachelorette Party! I can't believe she is getting married in less than 2 weeks! It is crazy. It was a great night with her close friends and family and I had so much fun planning it! This was my first Bachelorette Party to plan since I have begun blogging and gotten into doing crafty things. I tried to make it classy, not trashy...but, if this is a little "adult" for the blog world, I apologize ahead of time! It was great to personalize the party without spending tons of money on the cheesy bachelorette party supplies that are for purchase!

Earlier in the week I decided to make T-shirts for everyone. I ended up dyeing some white V-neck T's purple because Amy's wedding colors are purple and grey. I designed the martini glass image on the front and text on the back in Pages on the Mac. The martini glass is really just the letter 'Y' with some shapes on top of each other. I took a cue from "The Bachelorette" TV show by using the diamond ring as the 'O' in Bachelorette and took the martini glass on the back as the 'Y' in Party. I screen printed Amy's T-shirt with white paint (because she is the bride) and everyone else's black.

I also decided to play up the lingerie shower portion of the evening by making cupcakes into bras. You kinda have to think outside the box here but, when you put them together they kinda look like a purple bra. I also strung purple yarn and hung clothespins on it to display Amy's lingerie gifts. We also made a drink that we like to call "Pink Panty Droppers" from pink lemonade. It fit in with the lingerie theme great without being too trashy.

I feel like when you are THE bachelorette that you really should look as tacky as possible and draw tons of attention to yourself. So, I got Amy a HUGE flashing light fake diamond ring, a purple boa, a veil and made her some buttons to wear.

Overall, I think the party was a hit. Olivia flew in from California and surprised Amy. Amy had no idea she was coming. It was so cute. We ate at La Familia in Ft. Worth and spent the night at the The Renaissance Worthington Hotel, where we had the lingerie shower. If you haven't been to La Familia, you should go. The food is amazing and they have flaming margaritas! It was a fun start to the night. Amy got some great gifts and everyone had a fabulous time and enjoyed themselves. Here are a few more pics from the party.

a new friend

On Saturday, Kinley and I went to a couples shower (Ben was at David Read's Bachelor Party) for Amy and Danny...who's wedding is like in 2 and half weeks by the way!!...and Kinley met a new friend, Ellie. Ellie is Amy's cousins daughter...just like Kinley is...but, on the other side. Kinley immediately loved Ellie and wanted to follow her everywhere and copy everything that she did. Ellie was so sweet to entertain Kinley, hug on her, and keep her out of trouble. She was a big helper! I took all these pics from my phone because my camera battery was out and I did not get a single picture of the future bride and groom...but, look forward to a fun bachelorette party post this weekend!! I have a few fun and creative ideas in store!




Kinley kept trying to climb over the little fence to get in the water fountain....but, Ellie was very sweet in telling her "No, Kinley...don't get in the water."


One of the cutest things was when my cousin, Scott, entertained the little kiddos. Here are some pics of Scott being a "babysitter" for Ellie, her big brother Aiden (Nerf gun in hand), and Kinley. I looked over and they were just all sitting like this in perfect semi-circle fashion around Scott. So cute! I love these!



I know Kinley will be so excited to Ellie and Aiden at other wedding events for Amy and Danny!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day today to my sweet husband Ben. It seems like just yesterday he was 15 and we just met and I drove him to his JV baseball banquet. Nina just posted this pic on Facebook to remind us of that night long ago.

My how we have changed in 10 years!

Today we are celebrating him as a father! He is the best dad. Kinley just lights up when he is around. He works so hard to make sure we have everything we need as a family. He is a full-time worker, student, dad and husband. I could not ask for anything more. He is still the same boy I fell in love with over 10 years ago but, every year he turns out to be more amazing that I ever dreamed of. He makes me laugh so hard and dreams bigger than I ever would. He is the rock of our little family and I am so thankful for Kinley to have such an incredible Daddy! Happy Father's Day Ben!

I know Ben learned alot about being a great dad from his great dad! Gary..or Pops..is such a great grandpa too! Kinley always has a great time with Pops. He always checks up on her and wants to hear what she has learned. He loves puppies and water about as much as Kinley so they always have a great time together when the doggies are around or when we are on the beach or at the lake!

And of course, like Kinley, I know what is like to have a sweet daddy be the light of your life. I admire my daddy so much and am so thankful for the loving, faithful example he has always been throughout my life. Kinley just adores her "Boss" and always wants to hug his neck. Even though he is in Africa on a Missions Trip right now and probably wont see this post...I just wanted to say how much I love him and how proud I am of him. We miss you Dad and wish you a Happy Father's Day too!

kiddo playtime

Not only did we have some fun last weekend with our whole reunion extravaganza...but, while the mommies are away...the babies will play! We are so lucky to have moms that all love each other too and want to hang out together with our kiddos even when we aren't there. So, they got to play together a few days this past week. Plus, me, Kinley, Allison and Ella all made a 'day trip' to Tyler to see the Barstads new house! I did not take tons of pics of the new house...(you can see some here). But, here are some cute baby pics anyway!

10 years later...

This weekend was fun and crazy for our 10 year reunion. Most of these pics are all over Facebook or on Lullaby Lubbock...but, I thought I needed to post just a few pics. Here are some cute 10 years later pics of us before the reunion. We kinda took them prom-style since all our pics from before prom were in my mom and dad's backyard. So fun!

Here are the TRUE 10 years later pics....

From the actual reunion

I hope the 20 year is just as fun!