Katie turns Sweet 16!

I can't believe how fast time flies....  especially when I remember holding my newborn baby girl in my arms, and seeing her now as a beautiful young woman.  Sometimes I wish they would stop growing...

When I was 16 ... my family made it a special day for me.  So, naturally I wanted to do the same for Katie.

 

One of the family lines is through the Tiffany family (of the famous Tiffany & Co -- yes, that same line) ... and since Katie LOVES the color blue, namely turquoise, or the Tiffany blue color, I was going to do a Tiffany & Co party.  However.. b/c we had boys coming, and to have jewels and all that all around, we sort of went away with that idea, and just did a basic color theme.  And polka dots...

 

So she didn't care what I did .... so I picked turquoise & red.  Boy, was it an awesome choice!!

My fabulous friend Christine hosted this at her gorgeous home, and had a lot of decorations on hand already.  She is so talented in decorating!! 

 

We had cake, with a Tiffany box typed cake.  Then, a candy bar that was on the same table as the cake.  There was also a popcorn bar on a different table.  Since this activity took place in Texas, where it can be warm in January -- we played outside games to start the party.  Everyone received a glow in the dark necklace and a few bracelets.  Then we went outside and played glow in the dark kickball (with a kickball that did NOT hold up to its name!  BOO!).  After we played a few rounds of that (which was so much fun!), they played the hula hoop game -- basically getting into two groups and they join hands.  A hula hoop is placed in between two people, and the circle that can pass the hula hoop through everyone wins!  it was hilarious!

After those games, we came inside to eat cake and stock up on candy .. and popcorn.  Because after all of that, we went outside to watch a movie -- Despicable Me 2 -- it was a TAD bit cold that night -- but everyone had blankets and chairs.  All in all, everyone had a blast of fun. 

 

This is what the party decorations looked like:



What is it about giant Pixie Sticks that makes everyone grab those first?  I bought 50 of those suckers.. Katie had 6 herself.  :: rolling eyes ::

 



 

The balloons were duct taped to the ceiling, and at the bottom of the ribbon, were pictures being held up with a clothespin (that was spray painted to match the colors)

 

 



 

 

 

 

We also had a photo booth!!  It wasn't SUPER popular, but a lot of kids did get into the action.

 



 

The banner is basically letters cut out from a Cricut, glued onto scrapbook paper, glued onto a paper plate.  Tulle is holding each plate to each other.

 



The popcorn bar had candy to put in the bag along with the popcorn, as well as spray butter (not on table), and different types of toppings (seasonings).  I also had four types of popcorn on the table:  caramel, popcorn drizzled with milk & white chocolate, and popcorn made with coconut oil (went super fast!) and popcorn made with vegetable oil (a whole tub leftover!).

and to wrap up this blog post... here are a few of the cute photo booth pics!

 

 

Putting on a deck... at the property

Mike has been working on a deck at the property.  I was thinking it was a small deck... but when I saw it, I was thinking "Holy Guacamole!  This deck is HUGE!"

Now... it has fancy railings too.  I spent FOREVER... painting these suckers.  It has to be JUST right.... no drip spots, nothing.  Mike only finished it about 3/4 of the way through before bad weather hit, and we had to call it quits.  But, he's done a GREAT job, and it looks very nice.  He's mostly looking forward to hunting from the deck (yes, he has a feeder already set up and it's in the nice range of view from the deck).

 

 

Unfortunately, because of all the break ins we had last year (four total...), our windows will be rocking those awesome steel bars as well.

Cue:  angry face

Our friend put a stand up in a tree directly in line of the feeder on our property, and so the girls were often found going up and down that tree... sometimes just to read in it, or to text.  I had to laugh at them when I heard a few times "HELP!  I can't get down...."

 

Katie.... was found IN the cabin a lot, reading her books and texting.. a new friend. 

I, on the other hand, enjoyed pulling all the fallen trees on the property and creating huge bonfires.

This is the best time of year to do it -- when the snakes (are hopefully) deep underground b/c it's so cold.  And... of course, poison ivy is nowhere to be found.  In the summer?  Forget it -- you will not catch me in that area!

Thanksgiving at the Cabin

We absolutely love Thanksgiving at the cabin.  It is so relaxing, a little cold, and we have lots of bonfires to sit in front of and watch the beautiful stars.

This year my parents & my brother & his family came down from Missouri to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  We just bought a metal storage unit.... and like rednecks that we probably tend to be, they slept in there (complete w/ carpet and heating units to keep them warm!).  My parents slept in the cabin with us.

Before they arrived, Mike and I went to town (remember, we're kind of far from town... ) and bought half of our kitchen cabinets.  We both absolutely LOVE this style of cabinets, as it reminds us of what a cabin style cabinet should look like.  We'll add more to it later this year, but at LEAST.. I have a kitchen sink now, and I no longer have to do dishes in the bathtub or outside with the water hose.

 

Mike built new steps complete w/ a handy "hold on for your life" handlebars.  It is actually pretty cool.  He did it earlier, but he only put in maybe 3 steps, so it was more like rock climbing to our bed every night.  It had to go....

 

 

Mike loves riding around on our neighbor's John Deere tractor...

 

 

Maddie shot her first animal!  It was actually a 6 point buck.  Not bad for the first time Maddie!

 

 

Maddie 'n Liam loved playing together.....

They both are such hams.

 

While Maddie 'n Liam hung out together, Katie & Joshua were buddies.

 



 

Finally a picture any grandparent who only has 4 grandkids would love to have hanging on their wall.

Miss Maddie is a Beehive!

Miss Maddie turned 12 last fall -- and when a girl turns 12 in our church, she gets moved up to the Young Women's group (ages 12 - 18 year olds) .... they in turn are separated by three groups, from 12-13 year olds (Beehives),14-15 year olds (Mia Maids), and 16-18 year olds (Laurels).

Our YW leaders (which, I am one of them...) spoil these adorable girls when they turn 12 and give them a huge bouquet of "Beehive" stuff.  :)  They love it!