Sunday, June 19, 2011

For The Man Who Has Everything

What do you get the man who has everything?
In an age of "gotta have it now" & in a world where you can have almost anything at your finger tips my father has pretty much everything he could ever want or need.  Every Christmas, Birthday, & Father's day brings the same struggle to find a gift that is worthy of a man who has been the foundation of our family.
My father was the first man in my life.  He has taught me so much; from how to do yard work & play tennis to have to save & how to tell a joke in just the right way.  My father isn't a mushy man, but I don't ever doubt the love he has for me & our family.  He has worked tirelessly to give us more than we could dream of.  I know that he would be there for me at the drop of a hat if I called.  I know that when I think I have a new cool gadget, my dad has had it for a month already ;)
My father is an amazing man & role model & my father's day gift to him is this blog & some pictures of our time together today for his beloved digital photo frame.
So here ya go dad, pictures of the beautiful family that you created.

The Drakes
(Missing our Sexy Lexi)



Helping pops with his crossword ;)
Photos & memories made possible because of my wonderful father.

His beautiful girls at Shannon's pre-wedding spa day

The men last christmas...lol

A very thankful Thanksgiving

The Drake girls & our Thomas at his 2nd birthday party
Pops & his hot wifey at my wedding
Dad, I hope today was a great day with special memories made.
I love you & I am ever so grateful for you.
Happy Father's Day.
XO-Ladybug

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Best Video You've Ever Seen

My good friend Royal posts vlogs (video blogs) to his youtube channel just about every day & our paintball excursion made the cut.  Check it out!



Check out more of Royal's videos here:

Happy Birthday to...Chase!

This last weekend we celebrated Chase's birthday...all weekend long!  Friday night we kicked off the birthdays with Kevin's birthday celebratory dinner, but midnight came quickly & Chase wasted no time getting the celebration started! 
Flaming Dr. Pepper Birthday Shot for my Birthday Boy!

The Birthday Boys

A Surprise Guest!
Unfortunately my phone died after this & I missed out on pictures from the karaoke bar that followed this, but you can imagine it was a good time!

After karaoking the night away we didn't feel like driving back home so we bunked up with Chase's mom.  The night went until the early morning & let's just say it was a very good thing I was cancelled at work the next day ;)
In the morning Chase had us all up early...guess he couldn't wait to celebrate his birthday with us!  We kicked off the day with a family tradition, biscuits & egg butter!
Family Photo!...missing of course myself & another very important lady,
Kristen we so missed you!!

The Birthday Boy giving me the, "hurry up & take my pic so I can eat" smile :)
Don't let Chase & Kenzie's smiles fool you, they were probably kicking each other under the table.  The weekend was full of sibling rivalry; I'm pretty sure they made up for a childhood without each other, haha!
After the breakfast of champions we headed out for a day by the pool.  I was too busy lounging in the pool to take pictures, but to recap...there was water bball games of HORSE, tons of water time for bailey, & tons of Chase cannon-balling in the water "accidentally" splashing all of us.
This is proof of the fun we had in the pool...
Bailey was worn out, but the rest of us looked about the same...lol

We went out for a yummy dinner & then spent the rest of the night, in true Chase fashion, at Dave & Buster's.

Sunday was the day I had planned for Chase's Surprise Birthday Party.  Due to the logistics of it I surprised him Saturday with the news that he had a day of paintball with his friends & family planned!  He hid his excitement pretty well but once we started gearing up you could see he was pumped!
Here are some pics from the day!
Ready to get started!

Playing it cool...

My baby cousins aren't babies anymore, they're warriors! lol

Time to gear up




I was ready

Tracy too, lol


The paintball massacre & the photographer

Cousins!

Friends!

This is me telling Chase that those kids to his right said "it's really going to hurt..."
I was shaking in my nikes then...

Chase not so much

Waiting our turn

Ugh...Blue Shirt, as he came to be called, completely annihilated the competition...& my arm!

Intensity!

Cody waiting for the right moment to strike

My warrior :)



Check out my moves, lol

Rehydrating

This did not feel good

I decided to layer up

Keith & 1 of my many bruises

Fun Day!

We smelled really great after this...
After this we went back to the house for showers, food, & of course birthday cake!


Lots of candles & smoke, haha

I hope Chase had as good a time celebrating his birthday as I had planning it.  Thank you to everyone who came & made this day special!  And a BIG shout out to my mom & MIL for helping plan and execute this special man's birthday.  
My husband is an amazing man & in a time of stress and studying I am glad I could spend this weekend with him having fun enjoying our friends & family.  
You earned it my love!
Happy Birthday
(Last one)
:)


XO-The Culpeppers

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Trip to Heaven...AKA The Zoo

For those of you who know me well, you know that I absolutely love the zoo.  So when my sister Lexi came in to town with my adorable niece & nephew our destination was obvious.  It was a super fun trip to the zoo for me since I love to look at the animals so much that most adults don't get it, it was great to have Thomas there to "oooh & aaah" with me!

Ready to go!
Some of us were more ready than others :)

Sea Lions!  I was probably behind him saying..."Oooh..."


Making our way through the under water tunnel!
I picked up a straggler along the way, lol.

Definitely an "Ooh, Aah" moment

Thomas showing everyone the Okapi, smart boy!

Fearless!

 Team Shannon & Lauren to the rescue...
We solved the dilemma of forgetting the stroller umbrella, no big deal.

Weeeee!

Of course my musical nephew had the whole
playground to explore but ended up loving the piano-like toy!

Can't see?  No worries, Aunt Shannon's got it!

ROAR!
Reminds me of another zoo picture.....

That's my husband...haha


That's all for now, I hope everyone is doing well!
XO-The Culpeppers