Cowgirl's 7th Birthday

My little cowgirl got on my blog the other night and stared at pictures for oven two hours.  She studied everything in every single picture.  It made me feel sad about not updating my blog to preserve our family's memories.  So I'm starting with Sunshine's  birthday party, which was back in September.

The invitations were really fun.  I bought some used jeans at the thrift store and cut the pockets off.  I added a bandanna and the actual invitation inside the pocket.

All the little cowpokes!

Our favorite friend and teacher, Mrs. McHugh, brought Sunshine's favorite horse, Smokey.  Having Smokey at the party was the hi-light of Sunshine's day.  All the little cowgirls took turns feeding Smokey some carrots right out of the garden.

                                                                                           

Smokey and Kat smiling for the camera. 

                                                  Panning for gold - so much fun on a hot day!

We also played "toss the snake into the bucket".  I'm sure there's a more clever name for this game, but it doesn't really matter.  It was a ton of fun for the kids.

Little Lynley loved panning for gold.  In fact, she loved it sooooooo much that she decided to just jump on it!

The Cowgirl and her Pa. :)

Make a Wish!! 

Her sweet daddy made her cake (again!)

Time to open some presents..

 Cowbaby!

The Birthday Cowgirl with Ma, Pa, and Sis.

Aunt Madeline.  So happy to have her in town!

 Our little Western town

Neighborhood friends are the best!

"Popping the Pigs!"

My favorite part of Sunshine's birthday was hearing her say her prayers that night, thanking God for such a special birthday party.   Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Well it didn't quite go as I had planned...

So yesterday was Day 1 of our 40 Days of RAOK.  We drove to downtown Auburn and "fed the meters" to shoppers who had just parked their car and to cars that had a "Violated" sign on their meter.  Earlier during the day, I had visions of my sweet darlings smiling at strangers and handing them quarters, telling them to "Have a blessed day!"  Not quite how it happened!  Lots of fighting over who get s to feed the meter, who gets to turn the handle, who gets this car, blah, blah, blah.  And I even had a couple of questions like this, "If I don't put my quarters in any of the meters, can I have my money and get an ice cream?"

So yeah, it didn't quite go as I had planned!

Say a prayer for us on Day 2! 

40 Days of Lent = 40 Days of Random Acts of Kindness

I'm back in the blogging world and I apologize for my abrupt absence.  I had to add some security measures to my blog for the sake of my children's safety, then we moved to the lake for the summer, then school started and life happened.  But I'm back to document (hopefully!) the next 40 Days (at least).

During the hectic Christmas Season, I decided that I wanted my children to experience the true meaning of Christmas by practicing Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK).  However, I could never quite get it together.  But I decided then that Lent seemed to be an even more appropriate tome to fully experience what it means to be a Christian and to teach my children about the sacrifice that Jesus made for them and the love God shows for them.  I want to make Lent a meaniginful experience for them by practicing 40 Days of Random Acts of Kindness and I CAN'T WAIT to bless others and watch as  my chidreln not only bless others, but experience their own blessing that comes from loving others. 

So I've re-opened the ole blog to document this season of our lives.  When the children come home from school today, we'll get busy.  We 've brainstormed many ways to pracice our RAOK, but I'm not sure what we'll do first.  I'll report back later!  :)