SWEET SWEET 16

Oh, what a night!

For the past 6 months I've been planning this party. Considering it was going to be Devs Sweet 16, I wanted to do something really special, and I knew that was going to take "a little more planning than usual".

-30 invitations. Check!

-Karaoke machine. Check!

-Disco Ball. Check!

-Strobe light. Check!

-Photo prop. (see above) Check!

-3 layer Birthday Cake. Check!

-Party decorations out the ying-yang. Check!

-Tiara, wait...WHAT! OK, whatever. Check!

-6ft. Party Sub. Check!

-10 2 liters of soda to wash that 6 foot party sub down. Check!

-Snacks. Oh, I know what your thinking, but trust me, teen girls eat a LOT!!!

Particularly, one certain little BFF.

-Candy Bar. Check! As if cake wasn't enough sugar to get-em-goin. Heck, lets throw in several

varieties of candy to eat too!

-Thank you cards. Check!

-Somehow manage to scrape together enough change after all this to possibly get her a gift. Check!

-Wha-laa! One Sweet 16 necklace. (it's so adorable. it has these cute little charms on it)

And after allllll that, I'm happy to report that it was a complete success! It was a success because

JOY and SPIRIT was in an over-abundance that evening.

There was a lot to do to get ready for the party that day and thankfully a few teens (Tyler, Tearra, John and Paige) came early to help us. If it had not been for the extra help, I'm really not sure Dev, Clay, Doug and myself would have been able to have everything ready in time. We did a lot of decorating. Inside and out! I even did the cake! I was a little nervous about it, but it turn out really good. It almost toppled over once......"Nobody move, or, breathe!" I whispered.

Devony has such great girlfriends. I truly and honestly think the world of these girls. Most of them I've known for years from school or church. But there were several that I met for the first time Sat. night and I was equally impressed with them. They are really good, fun girls.

The best part of the evening was when my little girl turned to me, took me by the shoulders, looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Mom, thank you sooooo much for doing all this for me. I love it! It's the best Sweet 16 party EVER!" Then finished that precious little moment with a hug that was so filled with love and appreciation, that it brought me to tears. (i'm an emotional soul anyway, so that's not that hard to do)

Sweet 16. Oh, what a night! Oh, what a bright night. Cause those girls were Shine-ing!

Have a joy-filled day.

Barn Swings...A Leap of Faith

Fun, crazy, slightly INSANE are all appropriate words I would use to describe my emotions Saturday evening as I leaped from the security of the boarding platform of the beginners barn swing in Ozark, MO. ( I promise you no pictures will ever surface of that event.)

Fun, crazy and even more INSAN-ER are the words I was thinking to myself as one by one, actually it was three by three, the teens from church jumped 'with glee' from the biggest, tallest and somewhat unstable looking (this description coming from someone who is afraid of that sort of thing) barn swing. And they did it over-and-over-and-over again! My daughter Devony being the ring leader of course! No fear insight...

...except from me. I made it halfway up the stairs of that bad boy and had to turn around and go back down. The workers were kind, but less than impressed, considering all the time it takes to get you appropriately strapped in and ready for the jump from "The Beast".

After we (they) were done with the swings we had a bonfire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Not only did I swing from one of the swings for the first time, but I also had my first Smore. No..seriously! And it will not be my last one, I assure you.

This was my first visit to Doennig Sport Swings and Ozark Paintball( 417-443-6600). Even though I was a scaredy-cat, it was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Saturday night was a lot of fun.

We definitely had our Shine on.