Sunday, October 27, 2013

A Bridal Bash

Well you didn't think Kenz could go off and get married without me and Leslie throwing her a cutely themed, over the top, completely to die for bridal shower, did you?
We quickly decided upon a "Mint to Be" theme and the party took off from there.
Leslie and I spent the last month planning out every tiny little detail to make sure it turned out as adorably as we had envisioned it. Leslie made sure everything was Pinterest worthy while I added in just the right amount of my signature cheesiness.
Here is our Refresh"mint"s table. We had fruit kabobs, apples, fruit dip, rosemary bread with herb butter, brownie bites, imitation asphalt pie, and pumpkin cookies.
Feast with your eyes.




Jeff so kindly got a TV all set up for us before I banished him from the house from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. But let me tell you. You sure can get a lot done without kids undoing everything you're trying to do. Big shout-out to Jeffery. Anyway. Back to the party. I made a video of Kenz and Joe answering questions newlywed game style. And then we had a cute part at the end of the video of Joe telling Kenz reasons he thinks they are "mint to be." It was fun because not a lot of Kenz's friends had met Joe yet, so it was a good way for them to get to know him a little bit better.
We gave everyone a season for their gift to be themed around. When everyone arrived, we had them write down a date idea for Kenz and Joe to do in the season they were given.
Oh, what's that? Gifts? Must mean the guests have arrived!
Have I mentioned yet that it was the absolute most perfect day of the entire year? Because it was. A perfect 70 degrees. No wind. One minor hornet issue, but one of our guests informed us that hornets don't like dryer sheets, so we added dryer sheets to our table centerpieces and I didn't really notice any hornets after that!
I loved our mint clad guests! Lots of people were sporting mint attire! They looked so cute with our decor!



She is the cutest. Really. Joe's a lucky guy. But he already knows that.



Here's Kenz watching the video while trying to convince us all that the tears welling up in her eyes were from allergies.

After the video, we played a couple games that Leslie had prepared. While I...wandered around looking like a drunk. I didn't think that limeade was spiked, but now I'm not so sure.
 We played a game where the girls had to guess the second half of a famous celebrity couple. 
And we also played a memory game. Leslie had put together a tray full of items that told Kenz and Joe's love story. We started by showing everyone the tray really quick, and then they had to write down everything they could remember seeing. Then we went through and told Kenz and Joe's story with all the items from the tray to see who got the most right. It turned out to be super cute!
Then it was time for the gifts. Which required some primping?
Ah. There's the Kenz we know and love.

I got Kenz oven mitts. Because what newlywed isn't dying for a brand new set of oven mitts? Oh! I forgot to tell her my joke about the oven mitts! When we were freshmen in college, Kenz caught one of our oven mitts on fire. And then she grabbed another oven mitt to try to grab the oven mitt that was on fire from the oven. And it was a big fiery mess. So I confidently gave her a set of oven mitts because I'm sure she'll need them. Especially if she still "burns through them" as quickly as she did freshman year. Har. Har. Har.
I just love Kenz and Leslie. And not just because we are all amazons. But that helps.


Most of our guests left, but some stayed a while to chat which was a lot of fun.
Then 4:00 rolled around and the munchkins made an appearance. They had just woken up from carseat naps, so you can understand their drowsy/irritable expressions.
It was such a fun shower! It went practically perfectly. Except for the one tiny detail that we forgot to give everyone their party favors that I frantically slaved over for the whole hour right before everyone arrived. Oh well. Eli will be happy to have the 75 Andes mints all to himself.
Congrats Kenz and Joe! Can't wait for your big day!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Family Pictures!

Every year my mom's only Christmas request is an updated family picture from each of her children. I was planning to hold out and not show her the pictures until December 25, but then Jeff posted a picture on Facebook, unaware we were supposed to keep these pictures under wraps. So then I gave in and gave up on keeping the pictures a secret for the next two months. Because, I mean, what's the use in hiding these adorable pictures?!?

My brother-in-law, Dallas, took these pictures. We are so happy with the way they turned out! Other than the part about neither of my kids ever smiling or looking at the camera on demand. But hey. Dallas did a great job snagging a shot whenever they were willing to somewhat cooperate.










 *My favorite*




 Carson was chasing two gigantic geese. And he nearly got his finger bit off by one of them.
As we were wrapping up, he-who-refused-to-smile suddenly started striking poses faster than a Baby Gap model. It was so funny.



It wasn't until the last five minutes of our shoot that I remembered the one sure-fire way to make my kids (and apparently me) smile -- bathroom noises.

Maybe next year my kids will look at the camera...and not spit all over their shirts...and smile. Am I asking too much here?!?
Take your pic (ha! Get it?) Mom! Thanks again Dallas!