Bridal Shower

Kristin and I threw Kelli her first bridal shower in Baton Rouge.  It was fun planning with my party planner of a sister.  She came up with this idea based around the song "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things" (those not familiar, go rent Sound of Music).  So the whole theme was based around Kelli's favorite things, beginning with the color scheme...hot pink and yellow.  

We asked Tanor and Kelli some of their favorite things about each other and put them on the mantel with some of their engagement pictures.  They each gave us a whole list of things but we only had room for four...

 All around the party, we used lines from the song to help decorate.  The gift table said this...

 and had snowflakes hanging above.

 We asked each guest to write down a piece of advice that they could give Kelli as she starts her life with Tanor.  We also played the game "How Well Does Kelli Know Tanor."  My game was put to shame when she new probably all but 5 of the 24 questions.  Very disappointing for me since she only had to chew five wads of gum instead of 20!  Oh well, maybe its a good thing she knows him so well...I mean she IS marrying the guy!

 We made a pink punch for "when the bee stings"

 Hung umbrella's and rain drops over the food table

 Kelli picked the menu for the evening: jambalaya, crawfish fettuccine, caesar salad, and spinach and artichoke dip.  We added the fruit/fruit dip with the cucumber sandwiches for a variety.

"Bright copper kettles"

 "Raindrops on roses..."

 And for dessert, her favorite: Strawberry shortcake.

 She wore a white dress but refused the BLUE SATIN SASH we had gotten...she didn't seem to love the look.  Okay, she's the bride, she can do what she wants.

 We asked each of the guests to bring one of their favorite things to give Kelli as she and Tanor start their lives as newlyweds together.  She left with quite the loot and some fun gifts!

Each guest took their "brown paper packages tied up with string" as their party favors stuffed with cake balls.

I would have to call it a fun, successful shower.  It was the first bridal shower Kristin or I had thrown and I thought it was pretty fun!!!  Now the wedding count down is on...less than a month away til the BIG DAY!!

With all this planning, the cousins were pretty much home bound at my parents.  They were totally okay with that because of the POOL!  Thank goodness for pools!  These kids were literally in the pool almost all day everyday!

So much so that their toes bled and needed healing from Mimi's magical band aids.

But that didn't stop them from swimming more the next day!  I loved watching them make up their own games to play!  This is what my sisters and I did when were growing up.  We swam ALL day making up funny, weird games as we went along!

Hudson must have been COMPLETELY exhausted because before his nap one day, I was feeding him lunch and turned him around so he could watch all the kids outside playing.  After a few minutes, we noticed zero noise or zero movement.  I went and looked and sure enough...he was ZONKED!  That is a FIRST!

Of course a trip to Louisiana is never complete without the best snowballs around!

Kristin left the day after the shower and I stayed a few extra days to help my mom out with some wedding things that she needed help with (yes, I sure am a good daughter;)).  The boys got their fair share of time in driving the red car and playing outside.  I loved seeing them play together and mimic each other as they drove around making crazy faces and noises.

Boston also got to climb my parents trees.  He LOVES this and it makes me wish we had a big yard with lots of aged trees so he could do this at our house too!

Then it was back to Texas we went, leaving my mom with still lots of wedding stuff to do but hopefully helping relieve a little bit of stress.  We were exhausted.  Can't imagine how my mother feels.