Introducing Our First Nephew: Baby Brooks!

I'm pretty positive last weekend took the cake for the "Best Weekend Award." We had the most wonderful weekend! It started off with Levi, Callie and Baby Blake driving in early Saturday morning... I got to play with Blake while her momma took a test and her daddy had a little nap after turkey hunting earrrrly that morning. Blake and I had so much fun - she laughed at Rylee (first time I've ever heard her laugh), she downed a couple of bottles, she helped me fold laundry and then we rocked a really long time as I soaked in her precious little face as she napped. That pretty girl has me wrapped around her finger!

When Callie got back from her test and Brandon got home from work, we got cleaned up and headed to meet Ryan, Jaime, Blythe and Zoe for some dinner. It makes me so happy when I get to spend time with my cousins! I am so blessed that they are not just my family, but also my wonderful friends. We had a great time laughing over yummy food...

That same evening we got a text from Brandon's mom saying our sister-in-law, Ashlee, was finally going into labor! YIPPEE!! We all have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first nephew, Brooks Caleb. Well, that sweet baby decided we all needed a lesson in patience so he refused to come until Sunday morning! Brandon and I asked that we be called as soon as any change occurred... at 4:30am we got the call and we BOLTED out of bed! (If only I had that burst of adrenaline every morning, I am positive I'd make it to work on time!) We talked to B's mom as we drove, she beat us back to the hospital and reported that all was well so we decided we'd grab everyone some Starbucks and donuts. We had to go to two donut stores because my favorite one (Daylight Donuts) wasn't opened... Seriously? You know you are up early when the donut shops are still closed. Then we were on the hunt for Starbucks... FIVE closed Starbucks cafes later we waited at the door until one opened. Geeze Louise, I just knew we were going to miss it while trying to find a cup of decent coffee! But no, Baby Brooks was still making us all wait...

We all had a great time waiting on Baby Brooks... Well, all of us except poor Ashlee whose epidural had unfortunately started to wear off. She was such a trooper!! When it was close to go-time we all gathered around the door, waiting to hear that joyful little cry of our sweet nephew.

Below are two pictures that I think are so precious... Ashlee's dad quietly paced outside the door waiting. We barely heard a sound from Ash as she brought Brooks into this world, she was super tough, but once or twice we heard a little crying sound and Ashlee's sweet daddy instantly quit his pacing and went to sit away from our little group standing around the door. I think it's so true that a daddy never stops being your daddy regardless of how old you are... You could tell hearing her pain, left him worried about his little girl...

And then we heard that sound we'd all been waiting for: Baby Brooks!! I was watching Terry's face and it instantly switched from stress to joy! Isn't that the cutest picture ever!?

On April 22, 2012

at exactly 8:47 in the morning 

our lives changed forever as

BROOKS CALEB

made our world a little sweeter.

He was welcomed with great joy by:

His momma Ashlee and daddy Caleb

Gramma Karen and Nana Judy

Papa Terry and Grandpa Larry

Uncle Brandon and Uncle Chris

Great-Grandparents Helen and Jerry

one verrrrry proud Aunt Raegan... (But I was too busy taking pictures to get in one!)

and many, many, MANY other friends and family from near and far.

He is already one blessed little boy!

Mr. Brooks had a full set of dark brown, almost black hair.

He weighed a healthy 7 pounds, 5 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.

There is no doubt that he is perfect in every way imaginable!

And already so handsome!!

(Ashlee, Annia and I all agree that those Kings make some pretty boys!)

" Blessed Grandmother"

Did I mention he has a VERY healthy set of lungs?

That boy knows how to get some attention!

Uncle Brandon is excited about his new fishing buddy.

Sweet Baby Brooks,

I don't know what your little future holds but I know this... You come from a long line of very good men and you have the responsibility of carrying on their good name. There are few things more important than a good name little Brooks, you'll understand this someday. You will see for yourself how you were given this good name... See, it comes from your Daddy, your Uncle Brandon, your Uncle Christopher and your Grandpa - they all have this amazing gift. It is uncommon, it is rare, it is precious and because you will grow up with these wonderful men as your role models, you will have it too... Each of these men are special because they have generous hearts. They are givers. They devote their time and money and talents and THEMSELVES to helping others. Your Daddy and your Grandpa are firefighters - they volunteered to run INTO the burning building to help others. Your Uncles are doctors - they sacrificed years of their lives to learn medicine so they could help others. These men are givers and it's not just in their job descriptions, they give when nobody is looking... I've caught them! When your Uncle Brandon was studying for his Boards, I saw your daddy sneak over to mow the yard in the middle of the hottest summer in Oklahoma history. When they see a need, they try their hardest to meet it, regardless of the self-sacrifice it takes. Little Brooks, you have very big shoes to fill.

We all have very high expectations for you, little guy. You were blessed before you even arrived because your mom and dad are some of the most wonderful people in the world. They are going to teach you many important lessons and you will grow to be a great man - full of strength, wisdom, integrity and love. You have the opportunity to see first hand what it's like to love God first and your family second... Those two things above all else... Your mom and dad are really good at that, they will show you.

Sweet little Brooks, know this above all else, from the moment we learned that you were joining our family, you were immensely loved. Our love for you is one thing that no matter what, will never, ever change. Your Uncle Brandon and I will cover your sweet little life in prayer daily. We are going to try our hardest to be the best Uncle and Aunt in the whole wide world... We'll probably jack that up some time down the road, but know that we love you and we're doing our best!

Happy Birthday Precious Brooks...

You are hugely loved by,

Aunt Raegan

Easter Overload Part 4

This is the last of the Easter posts... which is good since Easter was weeks ago! But I didn't want to do every day leading up to Easter but then never post the actual day itself... I'm going to knock this out pretty quick because we had a super exciting weekend and I realllllllly want to introduce you all to my first ever NEPHEW! So let's do this Easter things so we can talk baby...

Are these roses not a-mazing?! My sweet and super talented mom has been arranging flowers for the front of the church for about as long as I can remember. In the dead of winter, she can arrange twigs of nothing and it turns out fabulous! She very sweetly says that God blesses her flower beds each week by making things bloom so she'll have something to work with. This Easter God gave her some of the most magnificant roses ever - their colors were so beautiful! She had a small arrangement sitting on the lobby table and I honest to goodness thought they were fake! Thanks mom for so selflessly sharing your beautiful flowers with Crossings Church each week!

Okay, so yes we might be in our late twenties... and yes, we have real jobs... and yes, we are definitely married... and yes, the Easter Bunny still visits our house!! I am so not ashamed or embarrassed. The Easter Bunny is awesome! Instead of dolls, he now brings cute clothes! I LOVE THE EASTER BUNNY!

Easter picture with my handsome hubby.

Brother was having none of it, some things never change.

We had Easter lunch at the Ranch house with all the cousins! Unfortunately I some how failed to get my camera in the mix when we took the group shot, so you only get to see Mr. Kason! One day I was playing with Kason at his "Gpa's" office and I ended up taking him over to the park. We were having soooo much fun running from the swings to the slide, back to the swings, back to the slide... Then I had this genius idea! I taught Kason this fun little cheer where I said, "Kason, who is your favorite?" and he jumped up and down and yelled, "Raegan is! Raegan is!!" It was a really fun cheer and I made him say it everytime he got on the slide or the swings (shameless, I know!). Well, go figure, here we are MONTHS later and I see the little squirt and say, "Kason, who is your favorite?" and he remembered!! And therefore, little Kason got whatever he wanted from me for the day. His requests were pretty easy - the rock he has in his hand, ride in the back of the truck and go fishing. Done, done and done!

Fishing got old pretty quick so Kason and I ended up throwing rocks, sticks, whatever we could find in the pond and he was adequately pleased. Finally Levi caught a fish and Kason just grabbed it and went down and threw him back in! What a little cutie! The look on his face completely cracks me up!

One of my favorite things to do at the start of Spring is pick flowers from the meadow. The high meadow at the Ranch is always COVERED in jonquils (also known as daffodils or buttercups) and paperwhites. Unfortunately I missed all the bright yellow jonquils this year but the paperwhites were still in bloom, so I grabbed up a quick bouquet before heading back to the city. They brought me such joy in the few days after I got back... It's always nice to bring a little small town home with me!

Be Blessed!
Raegan

Easter Overload Part 3

This is the next to last day of Easter, I told you... I took a lot of pictures!

After the whole gigantic-soaking-wet-dog-in-truck episode, we gave up on catching any fish and headed to the very best, most amazing, crazy delicious, hole in the wall EVER... If you are ever completely lost and stumble upon Cookson, Oklahoma you MUSTTTTTTT stop at the little convenient store that is home to the Cookson Diner. There is only one room with maybe five tables and you have to walk through the kitchen to get from the front door to the seating area. During any hunting season, there will be a wait but it'll be worth it. Many times I am the only person in the place NOT wearing camo. It's been redecorated a bit since last time I was home, they have cute little antiques sitting on a tall shelf. It's almost guaranteed that the waitress will call you "honey." And I'm not positive (because I always go with my dad and he buys) but I'm betting you better have cash...

It is so ridiculously delicious! We go there every single time we head to the Ranch. They are only opened for breakfast and lunch and to be perfectly honest with you I've never ordered anything except breakfast because it's so stinkin' amazing. (But I have seen other people order gigantic juicy burgers!) I fully intended to take a picture of our food but then I was starving by the time we got the Duncan situation under control and I didn't think of it again until my plate had been completely cleaned. Sorry about that, you'll just have to trust me.

I always order the ham and cheese omelet and it comes with hashbrowns and toast. The omelet itself is pretty big and it's oozing with melted cheese and about a pound of ham. It. Is. Heavenly. Brandon always gets pancakes, so we split both our orders in half and share with each other. My dad is particularly fond of their biscuits and gravy and my mom ordered their new breakfast scrambler and it looked awe-some! It had scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, potatoes and cheese all mixed up. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. It's located in the middle of nowhere but it's definitely worth the drive!

This would be my brother in a pond. Remember that time I wrote a really sweet post to Zac on his birthday and I tried to sneak in the fact that at times he can be a little bit redneck? This would be one of those times. Here's what happened: We were fishing after breakfast and he cast out in the pond and the fishing line went over a tree branch but still landed in the water on the other side. Zac somehow managed to catch a fish and then while reeling it in, got the line stuck in the tree, which in turn left the fish dangling in the air. Somehow the fish squirmed around until it fell out of the tree but left Zac's favorite lure even more stuck. So my precious little redneck got the bright idea to wade out in the water, grab the part of the limb that was hanging down and break it so that the he could save his favorite lure. (In case you aren't up to speed on how much a lure cost... well it differs, but this particular lure couldn't cost more than $2.50... In other words, not near enough to wade out in a pond over.) His plan was working decently... he rolled his shorts up so they weren't getting wet, he had on flip flops so nothing too disgusting was on his feet, I'm not sure why he needed to take his shirt off but he did... The thing he hadn't calculated was how hard he'd need to pull the limb to break it. Apparently it was a little less attached then he expected, so he pulled as hard as he could and it snapped like a twig (Technically, I guess it was a twig) and Zac went flying backwards into the water! Soaked from head to toe! That, my friend, was really fun to watch.

That would be my dad fishing. If dad doesn't catch something in the first five casts, prepare to switch ponds immediately... Patience is not a virtue he finds important when it comes to fishing.

While the boys were catching fish, mom and I caught some sun in the back of the truck. I guess Zac isn't the only one with a little touch of redneck... I took this picture while we were driving from one pond to another. I wouldn't recommend riding in lawn chairs in the bed of a truck, but we were staying on the Ranch so there wasn't any risk of wrecking.

Mom and Dad had to head into town for the afternoon and B wanted to stay so while he continued to fish his little heart out, I played with... 

Baby Blake!! She and Callie came and sweetly sat with me and talked for hours on end! It was so good to catch up with Callie and Miss Blake was a completely content baby the entire time. We talked about everything under the sun and it was great fun!

Saturday evening we joined my parents at my mom's parents' house for some delicious pre-Easter dinner. My Grandma is a fabulous cook and dinner was great, but dessert... oh, dessert was even extra delicious! I'm not even really sure what it was - light and airy angel food cake with some type of wonderful sauce and whipped cream! We had a great time sitting around the table visiting with my sweet grandparents... I so wish I got to see them more often!

Be Blessed!
Raegan

Easter Overload Part 2

Thanks to everyone who prayed for the Williams family yesterday! The service was truly wonderful and uplifting! The funeral took place on one of the three state parks that Steve was the director of and it was a packed house if I've ever seen one... There wasn't an empty seat in the lodge and they opened all the windows and set up chairs and speakers outside and there were STILL people left standing everywhere they could find an empty space. What a testament to this wonderful man's life! The weather could not have been more perfect - sunny with a breeze! The family had asked different people that Steve had been close with to speak and what started as a sad, quiet occasion quickly escalated to a happy, joyful celebration! Story after story was told that left everyone in the room laughing hysterically. It was truly a wonderful day...

Please continue to pray for his family as they adjust to their new normal... They have a lot of big decisions to make and things to get lined out, pray that the Lord shows them exactly what to do and that the process is as painless as possible. Continue to pray for their strength and comfort. Thank you for helping make a difference in this difficult time.

Now, back to Easter weekend!

Friday the minute we got off work we hit the road to my beautiful home town! We rolled in just in time to watch The Passion of Christ with my parent's church. The movie depicts the story of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and being resurrected... It is terribly difficult to watch as they beat, bloody, and break the body of my Savior, but that is exactly what the Easter holiday is about - God sacrificing his son for each one of us. Brandon and I agreed that watching this movie would become an Easter tradition for our family.


We ended up spending the night at the Ranch on Friday so that dad and Brandon could do some turkey hunting earrrrrly Saturday morning. They didn't see a thing but they still had fun!

These are just a few random pictures from around the Ranch - above is my MASSIVE yellow lab, Duncan. He typically weighs between 100-120 pounds and he is the sweetest, most cuddly big ol' teddy bear you've ever seen. (I'll tell you about this weekend's Marley moment in a second.) Also, are you seeing how insanely green everything was?! That picture hasn't been edited a single bit... Spring has sprung in Eastern Oklahoma and it's b-e-a-u-tiful!

This is the tree Brandon carved our initials into after proposing LAST Easter! (I will eventually get to the proposal in Meeting My Match, promise.) It's finally starting to brown and we liked the new color changes. This tree means so very much to me! I was so thankful to get to spend Easter at the Ranch with my family. I haven't been able to go home since Christmas and it felt like forever!

This would be Duncan in time out... Sweet Duncan loves when we go fishing, the problem is that nobody loves taking Duncan fishing because, well, you can't catch a single fish when he's around. However, I made the mistake of talking Brandon into taking him.

See the problem is that when you cast your plug out into the pond, Duncan thinks you are playing fetch so he runs full speed, throws his massive body in the water (usually this is not done gracefully... think tsunami like waves and splashing everywhere), and chases after your plug until you reel it entirely back in and he's back on the bank shaking water all over you and waiting for your next cast. My father insists that if we let him catch the plug (with a hook in it) one time, we wouldn't have this problem anymore but none of us have the heart to teach him this lesson the hard way. He's just too stinkin' cute, even when you are mad at him.


So Brandon is dying to go fishing, he's been talking about it non-stop for weeks and I insist we take Duncan. The agreement was that Duncan could go but I was in charge of keeping him out of the water. I let the tail bed down and grab his collar while he jumps out. I tell him to sit and stay, which he does even though his eyes are darting all over the pond and his giant tell is wagging excessively... He wants to go sooooo bad, but he minds me. Brandon is putting the lure on his pole and I ask him if he'll go ahead and put mine on as well and that's when we make Mistake #1 - Brandon says "Okay" which happens to be the word we use when Duncan no longer has to stay. He bolts into the pond, Brandon just glares at me, I start using my best "scary dog owner voice" and insisting that Duncan get out of the water immediately, which goes over... not at all. Finally I resort to waving a stick and throwing it away from the pond. He bounds out of the water after the stick. Success!


I entertain Duncan with fetch while Brandon does a little fishing. He hollers up to me that he caught one on the second cast! I tell him good work, just make sure not to... Mistake #2 - Brandon throws the fish back in the water, to Duncan this is like the ultimate fetch! He bolts back into the water, splashing everywhere as he rapidly runs back and forth in the shallow part of the water trying to find the fish. Brandon. Is. Furious. I'm pretty sure actual steam was coming out of his ears. I do what every sane person would do, I start screaming at the dog (because clearly that worked so well five minutes earlier). "DUNCAN!! GET! IN! THE! TRUCK!" over and over and over. I think Duncan sensed B's anger as well because miraculously he ran towards the truck and I'm chasing him and then we commit Mistake #3. When we finished putting the lures on the fishing poles, we left the back door of my dad's truck open so we'd have easy access to the tackle box. Stupid. Duncan is running full speed, I'm chasing him and screaming like a wild banshee, Brandon's head is about to blow and I see Duncan's eyes dart towards the open truck door as he runs by and you know where this is going. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (think slow motion)!"


All hundred and some odd pounds Duncan, soaking wet from head to tail, sees the window (in this case door) of opportunity and he takes it! He jumps straight into the back seat and he's just running back and forth across it when I get there, still screaming. When I reach in to grab him, he of course jumps into the front passenger seat and proceeds to sit, like he owns the place. I run around to the other side, so of course he just climbs right over to the drivers seat... the passenger's seat literally has standing water. FINALLY, he realizes this is getting him in more trouble by the second and so he ducks his tail and climbs out of dad's seat. He is promptly taken to time out in the back of the truck and isn't released for quite some time... So he pouted profusely.

I attempted to take him back up to the ranch house but the drivers seat was so wet that I couldn't sit in it... Luckily dad pulled up just in time and Duncan was transported to time out in the back of Zac's truck. We went on to breakfast, leaving dad's truck by the pond with every door open, hoping it would dry.


I'll be back with more Easter fun tomorrow! Thanks again for praying for our friends!

Be Blessed!
Raegan

Easter Overload Part 1

When I say "Easter Over Load" I am not complaining one single bit. I named this post based strictly on the insane number of photos included!! We had an eventful Easter weekend and I wanted to share every frilly little detail, of course! (I am a bit embarrassed I just stooped to that level of cheesiness. Oh well.)

So let's get started with the Easter festivities...

We kicked off the fun on Thursday by doing some serious egg coloring with Blythe and Zoe! Growing up, decorating eggs was a really big deal at our house. Zac and I spent hours drawing designs, dipping them in the color and decorating with glitter and stickers. (Zac didn't really partake in the glittering... His eggs usually ended up looking a lot like basketballs, shocking.) We continued our egg decorating tradition up until about a year or two ago... Apparently it's like a rule that once you are both in college and/or married, you don't get to color Easter eggs anymore. Who knew?!

So, I did what any smart person who is too old for Easter egg decorating would do... I invited Blythe and Zoe over for an egg extravaganza! What an interesting night it was - not exactly the experience I expected. It started off with, Miss Zoe (who is 3) asking where the eggs came from. I want to be the "cool aunt" but I'm not that cool. My parents still haven't had that talk so in my head, I panic - "Please direct all questions concerning reproduction to your parents." For some reason that didn't satisfy her... "Why?" she said in her little whiny voice. 

Big sister Blythe quickly informs me that we shouldn't tell her because it'll make her sad. Huh? What's sad about an egg coming from a chicken? Now I'm the one wondering why. I quickly and simply tell Zoe that eggs come from chickens, easy enough, conversation over... Then Blythe drops the bomb, "There are baby chickens in the eggs but they are dead." Ooooh, so that's why Zoe would be sad. This prompted many questions such as why would we eat dead baby chickens and who killed all the baby chickens (I started saying that nobody killed the baby chickens because they weren't chickens yet, they were just eggs... but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense if I believe that babies are babies the minute an egg and sperm meet... I'm pretty sure BK was reading my spinning mind from across the room because he instantly perked up and said, "Babe, keep it simple, I really don't want to have to explain to their parents why we laid out the different beliefs on a-b-o-r-t-i-o-n to their three year old." Good call husband, good call. I'm so glad I've got him for back up.)

Somehow we ended up diverting the conversation back into normal three year talk, chickens lay eggs and then they sit on them and keep them really warm and protected and finally a baby chicken breaks out of the egg when it's ready to be born... what I didn't consider was the fact that I had just handed the poor kid an egg that had cracked while boiling. "This one is still alive!! My chicken is being born!!" Oh geeze. I've got a LOTTTTT to learn, glad my sweet nieces let me practice on them.

Even though we weren't super successful on the egg Q&A, we did dye, shine and glitter two dozen extra large eggs... The girls had so much fun, almost as much fun as I did! Brandon on the other hand was somehow designated "glitter slave." It's not as glamorous as it sounds... Poor man was covered in sparkles by the time it was over! He's going to be a very good dad someday (but not for a few more years - don't get any crazy ideas).

When I told the girls it was time to start boxing all their eggs up Blythe showed me her "best one." She said she made it just for me. 

"I love you" 

Those precious girls can cover my house in glitter, spill egg dye all over everything and terrify my dog any time they want... They both have my heart. 

Be Blessed!

Raegan

Lyndsey's Lingerie...

Interesting title, I know. This blog is getting more and more scandalous by the day - yesterday I got everyone thinking we were adopting (In case you are still confused, no, we aren't planning to adopt... I'm just starting to learn adoption law so I can help OTHER PEOPLE adopt. See this post for ALL the details!) and today I'm talking about Lyndsey's lingerie!

Craaaa-zy!

Actually, I'm just bringing you pictures from Lyndsey's lingerie shower... I just couldn't think of a creative title, sorry.  The reason I'm sharing this little party is because I am ALWAYS on the hunt for shower ideas, designs and suggestions, so even though this actually took place in October of 2010, my theory is that it's never too late to look at fun pictures! Hopefully, you feel the same!

So, let me give you the back story on Lyndsey and Casey! To make a really long (yet super cool) story short, my cousin Callie became best friends with Lyndsey during college and Lynds, being from Iowa, came home with Callie a lot! About the time of their college graduation, when Lyndsey was about to head off into the wild blue yonder, Callie's brother Casey decided that (even though she was a Hawkeyes fan) ol' Lyndsey was pretty alright, so he started flirting with her. About 6 months later, Lyndsey began to feel sorry for him and so she came to the conclusion that Casey was pretty decent and they should get married. So a year or two later, they did! Okay, that's not exactly how the story goes but it's pretty close... in real life it was way more mushy than that.

Lyndsey & Callie - Best friends from college and now sister-in-laws

One of the reasons their story is so cool is that while Casey and Lyndsey were dating, Lyndsey told Callie that she wished there was some way that she could repay Callie for introducing her to her future husband...  then it came to her! She told Callie that she just HAD to meet Lyndsey's high school best friend, Levi. While sitting in the living room Lynds called him and told him that he should talk to Callie, he'd thank her someday, and handed Callie the phone... the rest was history! Callie and Levi were married the following April (You'll get pictures from their beautiful wedding soon!)... Casey and Lyndsey tied the knot six months later! If that's not the coolest story ever, I don't know what is!

So, as of October 2010, Lyndsey is one of my very dear cousins! Casey couldn't have picked a more perfect person to fit into our family! We adore her despite the fact that she won't stop talking about the Iowa Hawkeyes (Well, it's slowed down a little bit after OU beat them). Lynds and I have become wonderful friends the past few years and I am always so excited to get to head home to spend time with her and Callie. We both love antiques, sports and being outdoors so we always have lots to talk about! Lyndsey is truly one of the most kind-hearted, sweet girls I know and I'm so thankful to be able to call her family, as well as friend!

Now, back to the shower! Sorry, got sidetracked. Shocking, I know! Like I said before, Lyndsey is from Iowa so it wasn't reasonable for her hometown friends, sister and mom to make multiple trips to Oklahoma for showers so Callie and I decided to throw her a lingerie shower the night before dress rehearsal when they would already be in town. There aren't exactly a lot of venues in our small town so we decided to have a woodsy lingerie shower, not your typical pink frills, and host it at my parent's lodge. Lucky for us, the Lodge is already full of horns, hides and lots of woodsy decor so we didn't have to do much decorating... The little shin-dig turned out so adorable that I just had to share the pictures! (I'll be showing off pictures from her pretty fall wedding later, I promise!)

The main display featured a leopard tablecloth covered in lots  of yummy food! We glazed some pumpkins to add a fall feel and used vintage wooden boxes, buckets and bowls to display the food. I picked up a fun fall arrangement from my favorite florist in OKC, Trochtas, that had kale cabbage and sunflowers... but I messed it up on the drive home so ignore the fact that when I took these pictures, I hadn't fixed it yet. I made the "SOON 2 BE MRS SULLIVAN" banner using cardstock, burlap and my mom's sweet sewing skills.

Up the wooden staircase we hung twine with leaves and clothes pins. As Lyndsey opened her gift they were pinned on the clothes line! I got carried away in hosting and failed to take a picture of the line covered in lingerie, but trust me it was cute! It was an easy way to display each gift and fun to be able to see them all lined up!

We served a mini-dinner, it had all the ingredients of a full dinner but we served everything in mini-portions! Our menu included: cornbread muffins, beans and ham, corn on the cob, bacon cheese fries, fruit skewers, cheese burger sliders and cinnamon rolls or cookies for dessert!

Callie and I served the beans and ham in little coffee cups and we used skewers to stick the mini-corn on the cobs down in a moss covered block.

We made the sliders and then used short skewers to hold them together, as well as, to add the garnishes to the top... Being a picky eater, I hate when my burger comes covered in stuff that I don't want, this was an easy solution allowing anyone to pick off what they didn't want and it added a fun pop of color!

Lyndsey received tons of wonderful things and we all had such a fun time watching her open presents! It's always fun to get to put on an exciting little event for a girl you love and adore!


Be Blessed!
Raegan

Party with the Pioneer Woman

Well, this post is about a year over due... BUT since I didn't have a blog a year ago I don't feel the least bit bad about sharing this fun little party today!! {Side Note: I'll probably share quite a few fun little parties/showers/weddings as time goes on because that was what I ORIGINALLY made the blog for... hence the name "Frilly Little Details." I had this blog designed a few years ago to share all the "frilly little details" of the different events I was working on, then I got a real job and haven't had time to do much party planning BUT the blog was all ready to roll so I just decided I'd give you all the frilly little details of my life instead. It works, I hope.}

My friends and me posing with the Pioneer Woman!

Ok, so back to today... I am a member of the Oklahoma City Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club and every year we host a fundraising event called "Gathering of Angels." Our sorority's philanthropic focus is to promote literacy, so all the proceeds from the "Gathering" go to buy books for different underprivileged schools throughout the Oklahoma City area. I was honored to co-host the 2011 Gathering of Angels at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club. We lucked out and somehow convinced a fellow (but MUCH more famous) Pi Phi, Ree Drummond of the Pioneer Woman, to be our guest speaker! Let me tell you, if you slap the words "Pioneer Woman" on ANYTHING I'm pretty sure it'd sell like hot cakes! The Country Club has a dining capacity of 550 and our event was SOLD OUT before we had even publicized it! We had hundreds on the waiting list within days of the event hitting the press... IT. WAS. AWESOME!!! And we ended up raising over $30,000 for literacy! Woohoo! So, without further ado, I'm going to start sharing photographs of all the frilly little details!

Ree's table displayed the most festive pair of boots!
Aren't they fabulously fun!? Also, the picture is of my great grandparents!

I LOOOOOOVE decorating for parties and this was easily one of my favorite events that I've had the privilege of working on. Since this was a fundraiser we tried to keep our budget as small as possible. I can't remember the exact number but I only ended up spending about $300 total to decorate 55 tables... that is a mere miracle my friends! Here's my secret - it's all about utilizing your resources!

This is an example of one of the "Mason Jar" arrangements

First off, "Pioneer Woman" theme was right up my ally! Growing up in the "country" helped me easily visualize the look I was going for - the things that instantly popped in my head included sunflowers (super durable so you can prepare in advance and a great pop of color... plus the Pioneer Woman Cookbook has sunflowers on the cover), cowboy boots (this is where that "utilizing your resources" thing kicked in), burlap (because I use burlap with pretty much EVERYTHING), and little country knick-knacks to pull it all together! 

This is an old camping pitcher my dad used to use on hunting trips to Colorado
I just added some sunflowers and tied on a little raffia... tada!

Table cloths were included in our Country Club rental, so I chose to utilize the color options they offered and went with a hunter green. I didn't want a bright green because I really wanted my sunflower yellow to be the dominant pop color! Then I just bought a ton of burlap on sale at JoAnn's Fabric and cut it into 1.5x4 foot long strips that I used as a runner, but then last minute decided to bunch it all up instead of laying it flat across the table!

In this centerpiece, we used some of our books for display and an OLD iron!

Next I had to gather a BUNCH of boots! So, I called my mom to collect as many as she could from home (Everybody in my town owns at least one pair!) and I sent out an email to the Alumnae Club and asked that they use a sharpie to write their name on the bottom of each boot and drop them off the day before the event. Cowboy boots kept rolling in and it was WONDERFUL! 

A slightly rusted bowl turned upside down added
a little height to one of our mason jar arrangements!

I ordered a TON of sunflowers (my only big cost) from Trochta's, a FABULOUS flower store in Oklahoma City, and because I ordered in bulk (and because Jim Vallion, the owner is my "boyfriend") I got the flowers at a discounted rate. We saved money by arranging the flowers ourselves. For the "Mason Jar Arrangements" (I borrowed ALL the mason jars from my Aunt Suzanne... she had collected them for quite some time and used them at my cousin Callie's beautiful wedding!!) we filled each jar with different color beans - black, lima, green, pinto, kidney, etc - and then put the sunflowers down in them and added water. DO NOT TRY THIS unless you are making them immediately before the event. What we learned (the hard way) is that beans absorb water and don't share it with the sunflowers! Thankfully, I arrived early enough that morning to give everything a big drink and the sunflowers perked back up in time for the event... but I did have a minor heart attack, thankfully I lived. (If you want the same look you can fill jars with buttons - nice since you can pick any color you want!!)

I loved the red boots - they were a great pop of color!
I also brought some hobnail milk glass pieces and stuck moss
down in them for a little something different!

To do the "Boot Arrangement" we put floral foam in a red solo cup (BEFORE they were such a hot commodity thanks to Toby Keith) about half full of water down in the bottom of the boot and and arranged the flowers from there...

My great-great-grandfather is in the old picture riding his favorite horse!
The doilies are my grandma's and again, we used books for a little added height.

For the little knick-knacks: I pulled from things I had at home and asked a few friends and family members to gather up any old western looking photos they had (pretty easy to find in Oklahoma), doilies, silver pieces that weren't shined (I had a BUNCH of this that I'd collected from estate sales for basically nothing, obviously not sterling... my mother was appalled, but it was a nice touch of rustic!), lanterns, any galvanized pitchers/cups/bowls and old books.  **I use books to decorate for virtually EVERY event I work on and throughout my house! I love the color they bring and you can stack them and put an arrangement on top to make any desired height. If there are books that have fitting titles or pictures, I display them by standing them upright and slightly opened.   



This was one of my favorites...
that would be my little bro sucking his thumb while riding in a rodeo parade!

The menu for this party was especially fun - since Ree happens to have a very yummy cookbook, we served items made from her recipes! Wedge salad with Ree's homeade Ranch dressing, fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits, mocha brownies and, of course, angel sugar cookies! I think everyone enjoyed having not your normal luncheon food selection!

A lantern (from my front porch) held up a cute little wooden sign!

As a final touch, we scattered a few acorns around each centerpiece... sadly, I took all the pictures before that last minute detail! But it was cute, I promise!

My Gather co-host/party planning partner in crime/college bestie,
Britanny and I!! We LOVE to throw a good party!

My mom and grandma made the trip to OKC for the Gathering...
Bless their hearts, I put them to work!! They are always so sweet to jump in and
be my behind-the-scenes workers!! Thank you both!

The OKC Alumnae Club worked so hard on this event and I was so appreciative that they let me do the most fun part - decorating! Ree was absolutely awesome as expected! She is just as down-to-earth in person as she is on her blog. She made us laugh and kept us highly entertained all while declaring that she wasn't a public speaker... I think she can start claiming that one at this point! She was truly wonderful and we were so fortunate to have her be our guest of honor!

You can read Helen Wallace Ford's (Party Blogger Extraordinare) thoughts on the party with the Pioneer Woman by clicking here.

ALSO, SAVE THE DATE!!

Gathering of Angels 2012 is RIGHT around the corner!



Be Blessed!
Raegan