Lauren's LowWees

Lauren on her 2nd Birthday, with her "glass slipper" cake. Anything with a heal is a glass slipper.

When Lauren was even "littler", she used to call her shoes, "LowWees." I have no idea where that came from but we all remember it. And every once in a while you'll hear someone in the house looking for their LowWees. Lauren was and still is a big fan of shoes.

Lauren & LowWees before she was walking.

Lauren & LowWees when she started walking.

The Strawberry Shortcake Party

This is the first year Lauren didn't have a princess themed party. Although, Strawberry Shortcake is pretty close. She invited her friends to come all dressed up and ready to dance the Strawberry Shake. We colored Ballerina Strawberry Shortcake, put together Strawberry Shortcake puzzles, beat up the pinata, made Strawberry Shakes (but the girls just wanted vanilla), Danced our cute little feet off, ate Lauren's birthday cake and opened some sweet presents. I think it turned out wonderful.

{Even if 4 other girls weren't able to come, I forgot to hand out the dance medals I made and Lauren's B'day shirt and the special B'day crown I got for her special birthday party.}

All the girls learning Strawberry Shortcake's Strawberry Shortcake Dance.


Lauren's turn to demonstrate what she learned.

It was super nice to have Steve's help. He made a great pinata holder and maneuver'er. He has been a great second hand lately.

All these girls were giving it their all when trying to break open the pinata. It was so cute to see their cute little arms trying to swing that heavy bat. It actually took me a few times at the end to get it opened.

Cute Little Hailey's muscles shined during this activity.

It is amazing to see how fast these little girls could move when it came time to stuff their bags full of candy. Probably not as rough as a group of little boys, but definitely just as fast and with a little more finesse.
Again, Steve was a great helper. But he does look like he is pulling a Jerry in this picture. {love ya babe!} The girls were eating all their candy and putting together their puzzles, all except one.


Abi & Ella were the puzzle Queens

Hailey was way more interested in the Candy, I would be too.

Lauren drinking her Strawberry Shake w/o the strawberries and with a strawberry sticker on her forehead. She never likes being the center of attention, haha!

Ella, Abi, Clara, Hailey & Lauren

These were such cute pictures. I just wished I could have captured the other side of Lauren & Ella. Lauren was so happy today!

Thank you friends for celebrating Lauren's 5th Birthday with her!

Miniature Horses + Girl Scouts and then Mighty Might

The Girl Scouts of troop #17268 went on a field trip to the Paloma Trail Miniature Horse Ranch where they were able to learn how to groom their very own horse and then show them.

This is Rachel meeting her horse for the day for the very first time.

They learned the different techniques and tools you use when grooming.

Rachel received the 2nd place ribbon for her great job at grooming her horse. Then they took them for a walk, a trot and through an obstacle course.


I was lucky enough to be able to go on this field trip, because one of the leaders wasn't able to. I would have totally loved this as an 8 year old.

When I was 12, after lots and lots of begging, my parents finally gave me a horse for my birthday. Her name was Mighty Might. She was part Appaloosa and Welch pony. So she wasn't very big, but she needed to be broken. So all I could really do with her was feed and groom her. We had a friend try and break her a few times but it wasn't enough. And so the excitement of having a horse wore off. Which meant that if I didn't take better care of her, my parents were going to have to sell her. They did, and that was the end of Mighty Might and my dreams of having my very own horse. Maybe someday I can live that dream again through my own children and another horse?

Me & Mighty Might

Lauren's 5th Birthday, WOW!!!!!

Since we decided to leave town at the last minute and were going to be away for Lauren's Birthday, this is what she wanted to do. She loves pizza. So what better place, aside from Chuck E. Cheese, to go than CiCi's "all you can eat" buffet. Along with the pizza, you get the never ending begging for more money to waste in the Arcade and the never ending stomache from eating way too much. Even so, we had fun and it was fun to be with family for her birthday.

We went home for her Cookie Pizza Cake and presents. Thanks to ALL our family and their gifts.