Rock This Bachelorette Party

Sometimes, I talk myself out of posting about things that involve only me. As in, not the kids, JC, etc. Things like Bryan Adams concerts. And girls nights out. (Not that those really happen all that often) Things like joyful proclamations I would love to make concerning making my own chicken broth...for some reason. And the depths of sickness I sank into one day last month that just happened to fall on the same day that I made some chicken broth and now I can't separate the sickness from the broth because even though I didn't actually eat any, the smell lingered in the house as I lay dying a slow, nauseous death. And now, in my mind, my delicious chicken broth = vomit.
Don't talk about it anymore.
But anyway, I always talk myself out of those posts and...maybe I should.
But not when it involves my little sister's bachelorette party which was also an ugly sweater party. Come on. Who doesn't want to post about that?

I will try to be both respectful and brief. Her fiance reads this after all.
...Right? Austin, seriously, if you don't read my blog on a regular basis I don't know how you think you're going to pull off the transition into the Hawkes Family. Though...my own husband doesn't always read it. And I don't think my brother ever does. So...I guess you're off the hook if you never see these words.
I'm glad we had this talk.

Anyway, the best part of the whole thing was getting to do something with all my sisters. Someday when miracles happen and our lives all align in a way that allows, we are going to take some seriously wicked sister road trips. Can you imagine? It's happening someday.

But back to the party at hand...

It was on a super cold, super rainy Wednesday night and it was perfect for such a sweater party as this. I spent the afternoon making cinnamon rolls with the kids. My first attempt at from-scratch cinnamon rolls. And boy howdy. It was a fun, messy, and delicious endeavor. The kids loved the process. Because it was fun, messy, and delicious.
I arrived at the party with my pans of cinnamon rolls, an ugly sweater vest I found for eight dollars at Walmart, and hot chocolate mix. Yum.

We decorated.
Katie was the tallest so she got to be the one to stand on a chair and tape snowflakes to the ceiling. In her eighties sweatshirt. That I wore in junior high. And never felt ugly, thank you very much.

I include this picture because it tickles me.
Literally.
Doesn't it look like Laura is tickling Katie when in reality she is two feet away from her, handing her tape?
I know that Katie is having a fit right now looking at this picture. She can't handle seeing anyone be tickled. She can't even handle people wearing turtlenecks because it tickles her just looking.

Laura, in her very festive sweater, was the fake snow scatterer. It would have been me but then who would have taken the pictures of the snow being scattered?

Monica spent the time right before the party started unwinding with some time on the piano bench. This is a Hawkes tendency.

She also unwound by kicking back on some theraflu. This also may or may not be a Hawkes tendency. Or...she was simply getting over the flu.
Believe what you will.
I, for one, like that I caught her drinking something containing alcohol at her bachelorette party.
Your kids are going to see this one, Monica.

The sweet roses Katie brought.
Sprinkled with fake snow by Laura.
Team effort.

All set up. I love tablescapes.
I don't know if that is actually a word or if I watched "Semi-homemade with Sarah Lee" too much when I was up all night feeding babies.

The actual real tablescape. Lovely.
Fruit and dip (yummm), veggies and dip (yumm) and cinnamon rolls. (yummmm)

(I would like to confess to one and all that just now I promptly stood up, walked across the kitchen and heated up a cinnamon roll for myself.)

Katie orchestrated all the games. I believe she could have a future in the field of event planning.

Sisters!
(Laura and I had banished ourselves to the other side of the room apparently)
Pretty smiles.

But a laughing picture is even better.

One of the games Katie and Bonnie made happen involved this highly amusing poster, a horrible shade of red lipstick, and a blindfold.
Monica is such a good sport.

Meredith got there halfway through this game, couldn't quite handle it, and spent a solid three minutes collapsed on the kitchen floor, hiding behind the island, in a fit of laughter. It was rather funny. Also, notice her sweater. She won the 'ugliest sweater' competition of the evening.
When casting her vote, Bonnie wrote, instead of Meredith's name, simply "orange nasty."
We were over at my parents' house three days after the party and my kids were finding that orange fuzz still. And my mom keeps a really clean house.
It's that powerful.

So is Monica's kiss.

And here is what the poster looked like when we were through with it.
I would like to note that I won this game by landing my kiss closest to this strapping man's mouth.
Just sayin.
Though I am a little grossed out by my lip print. It looks like my mouth was open a little.
No comment.

Monica looks so pretty opening presents!

Pretty and...bashful. :)

Bonnie is the real photographer in the family.
I take a zillion pictures. She takes really good pictures.
She loves me for including this picture.
And seriously, her sweater vest was AWESOME. Note the lit up string of Christmas lights attached. And, since you can't see them, I will note for you that there are battery packs in her pockets to make said lights successful.

Sisters!
I love this picture of my sisters.

I might love this one more.
We moved our faces around crazily and the friend taking the picture just snapped it whenever she darn well pleased. And this is what came out.
Katie wins the prize for turning what was supposed to be a silly picture into a picture that makes me feel the need to cross myself.
And I am not even Catholic.
(of course, the sweaters make me want to do the same thing...as well as the shade of lipstick we are all wearing)

Or...maybe it makes me collapse in a complete fit of giggles.
Much like that entire night.