A bridal shower brunch.

This weekend we threw Eugene’s brother’s fiancé, Kelsey, a bridal shower brunch. This shower was definitely a team effort. I had great help from Eugene’s family with the food, Eugene’s mom graciously allowed us to use her house, and his sisters helped me decorate. Whenever I get to help plan a shower, I usually try to have it in the morning as a brunch. First, breakfast is my favorite meal – the food’s amazing, and there’s something special about enjoying the first meal of the day with friends and family, starting completely fresh. Second, it’s really nice to still have most of your day free after a shower. Many showers are in the early afternoon – twoish – and that usually means you can’t really do much before the shower, and afterwards it’s too late to have any other plans. As an Event Planner, I think it’s nice to your guests (and you usually get a better turn out) if your event is at a convenient time. I know not everyone’s a morning person, but most women I talk to love and appreciate early showers. Just my own little opinion on that! ;)

Here are some of the details from the bridal shower brunch…

I used some chalkboard paint to make the wine glass favors for everyone. I had some extras which went home with the bride for her party stock. We filled the glasses with Mock Mimosas, which I made using orange juice and ginger ale. Turned out pretty yummy!

Eugene’s grandma stepped up to the plate to make us a donut cake for the shower, and she hit a homerun! How deliciously amazing does that look? I imagine heaven may look {and taste} a little like that!

I got a little creative with weddingchick.com “sweet love” wedding template and used it for a menu, invites, and food labels. You can find the info on how to make tissue paper flowers on my blog here. {Super easy!}

We had a coffee bar, egg casserole {this recipe except with a few modifications, mainly doubling the eggs}, banana bread, and the fixings for fresh yogurt parfaits.

The rest of the decor was pretty simple with Circut cut hearts made using paint chips, a monogram, tissue paper balls.

We played a game with movie quotes from famous romance movies. Most of our guests failed miserably at this game, so we thought it might be better to have a word bank of sorts to make it a little easier. It was still a fun game and gave us lots of laughs as everyone tried to figure out the answers.

 

I love this picture of the little one and my mom. She really wanted to just spend the whole morning showing Grandma the baby birds that are in the nest outside her Nana’s house.

The bride-to-be opened some lovely gifts, while answering questions her about her fiancé as she thought he would answer, i.e. what did Dillan say his pet peeve is? We hoped the questions would be a fun distraction during the opening of the gifts {which can get uncomfortable for the bride with all that attention!}

 

The other activity we had involved a Jenga game. The instructions for the active were as follows: “Grab a block from the tower, sign it, and write a special message to the soon-to-be newlyweds. Return the block to the bowl. Your happy thoughts, advice, and date night ideas will help them BUILD their lives together as husband & wife!” We had Kelsey draw a couple blocks and gave prizes to the winners. We also offered the opportunity to share the message with the group. We had some very wise advice ranging from working to be selfless in marriage, each spouse giving 100% {not each giving 50% to make 100%}, writing down the little things you love most about your spouse regularly so you don’t take those for granted and remember to be thankful for it all, and more. Now when the couple has a game night, they can be reminded of advice/date ideas/people who love and support them.

It was kind of a lot going on for the little one, but all things considered, she did pretty well through the shower.

Eugene’s sisters, mom, and Kelsey & me. I love these women…even if I am way taller than everyone else! Kelsey and I are certainly blessed to get to marry into this amazing family! :)

 

I hope Kelsey enjoyed her shower and felt super loved and encouraged. We’re excited for her to begin her new journey as a wifey!

Date night.

We don’t do date night nearly enough. We’re homebodies, and we’re way too comfortable just staying at home watching Shark Tank on Friday nights. However, we actually went on a real date night last weekend!

Our church hosted a Sweetheart banquet for Valentines at a local golf course banquet room. And this, this, was the only purse I brought that night! No huge diaper bag with extra outfits just in cast, no lunch box, no work bag packed with a laptop and 10 event folders. Whew – it was liberating!

Along with 199 other people, we had a fantastic lemon garlic chicken, beef tips, mashed potatoes, green beans, brownie a la mode dinner. Oh my, it was delicious.

We laughed all night with the other couples at our table. Meanwhile the little one was having an absolute blast playing in a “band” and creating new songs with her cousin.

I didn’t think that I could love Eugene more than I did on our wedding day, walking down the aisle and watching his eyes well up with tears and his lips form the happiest smile. I’ve been amazed that I love him even more today. Watching him become a father – an amazing one at that - to the little one, seeing him make big sacrifices for the good of our family, experiencing the way he aims to lead our family with a heart for God…I love this man. {So much.}

Four years as one.

I’m so thankful for that perfect day, four years ago. I want to wish happy anniversary to my favorite blog reader & best friend, Eugene. What a journey we've traveled just in four short years!

We enjoyed a oddly timed meal out {we went at 3:30 in an attempt to avoid naps and meals for the little one}, a romantic shopping trip to Walmart, and ended with a sexy trip to Eugene’s high school coach’s office to look for softballs. Our concept of romance may have changed since becoming parents – we were just happy to have the bock of time to get some tasks done without toting a little one along!

While we enjoyed a dreamy evening walk on the beach at Walmart, I started to tear up as I saw yet another example of who Eugene is. A man riding an electric cart was checking out next to us, in fact, Eugene about backed into him by accident. After realizing the man was there, Eugene noticed the man had a heavy car battery in the basket of his cart. The man was struggling to stand up and attempting to lift the battery onto the check-out belt. Eugene quietly stepped over and lifted the battery onto the belt for the man. Okay, I know that’s not that big of a deal; anyone would have done that if they noticed. But Eugene didn’t start there, he slyly watched to see when the cashier finished ringing up the battery before he stepped in their line again to place the battery back in his cart. We finished paying for our items just a few minutes after the man, so as we were walking to our car, Eugene took a minute to walk to the man’s car {he was still sitting in his electric cart} to help him load his batter into his trunk. Simple enough, but that’s why I love him. He didn’t make a big deal, and it wasn’t a big deal. I love that about him.

I’ve come to realize this year, more than ever before, how rare a true Godly husband is. One who constantly strives to self-sacrifice for his family. One who admits when he messes up. One who cares more about what God wants him to do than his boss, friends, or family. One who isn’t ashamed to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider 12 times in a row and make silly faces just to get a one-year-old girl to laugh till she snorts. He’s not perfect. Neither am I. We fight. We’ve each slept on the couch alone before. We make mistakes…all the time, but he’s my best friend, and I wouldn’t want to do this thing called life with anyone else as my partner. I won’t get too mushy on you. I’ll just say I know I have it good. I know I don’t deserve a blessing this good, but God, I’m so thankful for him.

Weekend wrap up.

It’s been a while since I’ve even attempted a “weekend wrap up,” mainly because life’s too busy, and I’m too busy soaking it up to stop and blog. This weekend I captured a few wondrous moments using my phone.

I got some sweet Saturday morning snuggles with my girl…

And even daddy snuck in some sweet Saturday snores with his girl…

Our church had a YMCA night this weekend, so the little one had her first swimming experience – well, other than swimming in my belly for 39 weeks and 6 days. The pool was too cold for her liking. She only lasted a couple minutes; can’t say I blame her. Brrr!

She and second cousin {who is just a month younger than she is} were pretty intrigued with each other at a family birthday party…

And my wondrous thing tonight was her sloppy dinner giggles. She was laughing at me waving my arms & hair around.

It’s these everyday moments that I pray I don’t ever forget. The normal, simple, daily life with the little one and our little family.

{I am so blessed.}

Another auntie.

The little one has a new {soon-to-be} Auntie!

Eugene’s brother popped the question to his adorable {and awesome} girlfriend last night. I took some photos for him before she arrived so she’d have some of the details to remember. When she walked in, he had a slideshow made for her…

And candles, balloons, and rose petals everywhere…

The bride-to-be loves candy…

And my favorite picture…

I’m so happy for them!