Girls just want to have fun...

Last night was Shena's bachelorette party!

It was such a great night--here's the play-by-play: About 15 of Shena's friends met up at my house for some pre-party action. We had martinis, Jell-O shots, lots of mixed drinks and dinner while we were waiting for the party bus to arrive.

At the last minute, the party bus that I rented weeks ago, fell though--leaving us with no transportation just hours before the party. I made some calls and got another (and better) party bus! It was a 22 passenger ride complete with dancing pole, huge TV, disco ball, wet bars, you name it....
Our awesome bus!
All of the cool lights!

We all hoped on the bus and headed to our first (and turns out only) destination for the night--Bardstown road. On the way there, I announced my plan to Shena for the night. I bought a deck of "Bachelorette Party" cards that included dares for her to perform throughout the night. Since we were not going to let Shena pay for her drinks for the night, I decided that she had to earn them. Here she is with Terry, the good sport that was involved in the first dare...."Remove a guy's sock and keep it"....she did so, and earned a drink on me.
Then she had to kiss a guy that we picked out. This was so funny we were all crying by this time. Another drink.
Speaking of good sports, this guy's friends (girls from his office) bought a shot for Shena...with the only catch being she had to drink it from his lap. You may notice that he has something black on his pants...he was joking that he didn't want to spill it on his pants, so Shena put down Terry's sock (from dare #1) to catch any spills. Another drink.
These three guys were also great sports. Shena had to get someone to buy her "Sex on the Beach"--mission accomplished.
Pinch a guy's butt and tell him that it's hot (mission accomplished).

This dare, she had to get a guy from the bar to go out on the dance floor with her.
I lost count by this time....I don't even remember what this dare was...but I am sure it was funny!
This was my favorite! Shena had to find a guy 20 years (or more) older than her and ask him to dance. This guy was such a good sport and boogied down for the entire song! I think he was really enjoying it!Shena had to kiss the hottest guy in the room (determined by us) to earn her next drink. We decided that he was not that hot, but that if she showed the card to the DJ that he might play whatever we wanted...it worked, too! He played Living on a Prayer, Just like a Prayer, Dancing Queen, Soulja Boy--and whatever else we requested (no, Jill, no NKOTB--we are saving that for next weekend).

Me and Shena

Dancin' Queen!

We had such a great time!

Congradulations, Shena & Gibby!

Every Princess needs a castle!

Tonight after dinner, Gary and I took Libby to Target to find a "I Survived Blackout 2008" present. She was such a great sport this week--getting tossed around from one grandparent's house to the next, spending day after day at her Mema's house...again with no power and not being able to watch Dora the Explorer for 105 hours! (I was sure that we'd have to enter her into a 12 step program...but she did okay).Ever since Libby went to Austin's house, she has wanted a tent. Gary and I came across this princess one and knew that it was just what she needed! Here she is, in her princess playroom, drinking tea out of her princess cups in her castle. This little girl does not look spoiled, does she?
Killians had to try out the castle, too. It's hard to see Libby in this picture, but she is grinning from ear to ear looking through her window! It was worth every penny!

Banet Boogie

Friday we went to Krista's wedding reception at Huber Winery. Libby was so entertained by the dance floor and watching the kiddos dance. It didn't take long before she began dragging us all out to boogie down with her. Here is her and her uncle, Donnie. Her and Papa Mo take their turn on the dance floor!

Libby's idea of dancing is spinning...around and around until she falls down! I cannot wait to see her do her thing on the dance floor in her wedding dress at Shena's wedding in 2 months!

It's a Jeep thing...you wouldn't understand

Last night, we headed out to my parent's house for dinner and electric. It was such a beautiful day that Dad decided to get Libby's Barbie Jeep out and see how she'd do on it. The last time that Libby was on the Jeep, she was a passenger, and we were not convinced that she'd follow directions to drive it.

Libby really got the hang of it, and drove in a big circle again, and again, and again. I am not sure who she was talking to on her car phone the whole time, but I just hope that she had unlimited minutes!

After dinner and all of the driving, Pop tried to teach Libby how to shoot marbles. Thanks for dinner, Nonna & Pop!

Not-So-Perfect Storm

Sunday afternoon, we stopped by Gary's Mom's house so that Ray and Gary could work on the Jeep. Libby, Mimi and I were enjoying the weather and blowing bubbles. Nap time was approaching, so we decided to leave the Jeep for next weekend and head home. Once Libby was asleep, Gary left to run to the store. He was back a few minutes later to get his chainsaw and said that the wind had blown down a really large tree blocking the entrance to the subdivision.

Most of you all know how the story goes from there...the power went out at 12:30pm Sunday afternoon and then we began the waiting game....waiting for electric. Here are a few pictures we snapped from the storm. Floyds Knobs was hit pretty hard. We just got electric on tonight (after being out for over 100 hours!) We are so grateful for our families as we tried to continue our daily lives during the power struggles (get it--"power struggles").

There are many things that I learned this week. Like, did you know that Yo-Hoo and Spaghetti-O's are just as good (if not better) room temperature? My house looks cleaner in the dark and I actually look tan. Dirty dishes in the dishwasher begin to stink after 12 hours! It's not a bad idea to empty out your freezer every once in a while. You'd be amazed what you find! Candle-lit baths are not just for romantic evenings. There are some things that you do not want to do until you cannot do it (iron, laundry, and organize closets to name a few).

Thanks again to Gary's parents (Ray and Betsy) and my parents (Floyd and Shirley) for all of their dinners, baths and TV!

Rockin' around the Jukebox

Saturday the girls spent the morning hitting yard sales and shopping for toys while the boys played with their own toys! Libby & Kayla had been together most of the day, but still couldn't wait to shake it on the dance floor at the Jukebox.

Such great friends!

Tumble Time

This week just flew by! It seems like Friday came so quickly and it was already Gymnastic time again! This week's lesson was really great! Libby did half of the lesson with me and the other half with Gary. Miss Shelly does not want more then 1 parent back at a time, so it was a perfect plan so we both could enjoy her! Here she poses with Sophia. Don't they look so darn cute in their Leos (Thanks for the red one, Dena!)? Libby looks so excited!

Check out the two best friends after class!

Gary was late getting out of work today, so we opted for dinner after class. I was worried how Libby would do since it was late, but since her friends Kayla & Ally were there, it was all fine! Ally & Kayla were trying so hard to teach Libby how to jump! What are friends for?

Bathing Beauty

I snapped a few pictures of our sweet little girl in the bath tonight. She is so funny and full of personality!

Being silly.

It's amazing that we can even fit any water in the bathtub with all of her toys!

Shena's Shower

Last night, I helped host a Bridal Shower for my cousin Shena. We had about 45 people (friends and family) at the Leora Brown School in Corydon. It was beautiful and I am so pleased with the way everything turned out!

Me, Katie, Lindsay and Shena after the shower.

Aunt Nancy and the Bride-To-Be

We had a yummy dinner and then sped through some games and presents. Katie & Lindsay video taped Gibby's responses to 10 questions (for example: what is your biggest pet peeve about Shena). We asked Shena the same question and the guests had to guess "Match or No Match". She answered and then we watched Gibby's response. It was the funniest thing, ever!!

The venue for the shower was an old African American one room school house that has been renovated (complete with black boards). Libby found chalk and was in heaven drawing! I wish that I would have taken more pictures (I think that some people took some to send me) but I was busy doing the "hostess" thing. We are getting so excited about the upcoming wedding!!

Sister Act

Last Saturday, we spent the beautiful day driving to Indy to go to my cousin, Daniel's wedding. The wedding, that took place at a fancy country club in Carmel, IN, was beautiful, but had to have been the longest wedding I had ever been to. The above picture is dark, but it is of my mom and her sisters. My mom is one of 12 children. Her youngest sister, my aunt Patty, passed away a few years ago, but above (from left to right) my Mom, Jeanne (whose daughter, Kristin, is getting married in a month), Nancy (whose daughter is Shena who, as you know, is getting married in November), Kathy (whose son was Daniel) and Judy (whose daughter, Ashley, is getting married in 3 weeks). Lets just say that I have considered getting a second job at Bed, Bath and Beyond so I could get an employee discount for all of these weddings!

Football Season is here....

...and Libby's favorite part about football season? Popcorn eating, of coarse!

Start your engines!

As you have heard me say many times before, Gary, Libby & I all share the same love for Fisher Price "Little People". Libby has just about every Little People toy ever made and plays with them just about every night. Like clockwork, after she gets out of her bath, she asks, "Can I play people?" We discovered tonight that Killians is just as intrigued with the race car track as Libby is!

Killians loves just about caught it!

Hot at Huber's!

Sunday we headed home and took naps before the UL/UK game. It was painful watching the Cards loose, especially in a house full of Cats fans. I woke up with a terrible headache, but Gary convinced me that lunch at Huber's would do the trick. We ate lunch and Gary's cousin (who works at the winery) got us into the petting zoo, gave us tickets for the tractor and tickets for the pony ride. Libby's cousins Will & Harrison were mining for gold when we got there, so we decided to get a bag of sand and take a shot at it.

Gary & Libby had a really great time! Libby found a nice bag full of beautiful rocks (which she traded to Mimi & Pop for a radio this evening).

We didn't know if Libby would go for the pony ride, but she made 2/3rds of the way around the track.

Tractor riding was more her thing.

Finally we headed home for naps and then dinner at Mimi & Pop's house (and haircuts!) What a jam packed weekend--a wrecked car, a couple of parties, a few naps and some much needed R&R. Where did the summer go?