Cowboy Birthday Party


hitchingpost

Friday afternoon we had a birthday party for my son who turned seven years old.  He wanted a cowboy birthday party and a homemade horse for everyone to take home.  We had a great time and here’s the summary of what we did.

cowboyparty

We invited our guests to dress as cowboys, and when we greeted them at the door the first thing they saw was the hitching post.

*Edited to add:  I wrote a tutorial and drew a pattern for making your own stick horse, found here.


Twithhorse

Each of them got to pick a horse.

addeyes

Because a cowboy’s best friend is his horse, we had a table with permanent markers waiting and they got to add eyes and any other markings they wanted to personalize their horse.  Then, because we had guests from both school and church, we had them introduce themselves and share the name of their horse, which brought lots of smiles.

wantedposter

Before everyone came we turned a small hallway into a photo booth with our wanted poster hanging from the beam above.  I had some eyeliner pencils in my pocket and we drew a mustache and beard on their faces before taking their pictures in the poster.  We also had a bandana for every boy to tie around his neck.

wanted

This week we will print all the “wanted” photos in sepia tones and he will give them to his friends with a thank you note.

thegroup

We took some group photos at the beginning so I wouldn’t forget.  Next came the games.

horserace

We had to have a horse race, of course.  (Or two.)

shoottherabbithole

We did a bean bag toss, which was called “shoot the rabbit hole.”  For every shot they got through a hole, they got to eat a rattlesnake egg (jelly bean).

rattlesnakejump

We drew a rattlesnake head and taped it to the end of a rope.  My son held one end of the rope and shook the other end.  The boys had to jump over the moving rope without it touching them.  This we called the rattlesnake jump.

tugofwar

We had a tug of war.  Several, actually.  They loved this.  I like to mix up the teams each time.

snatchtherat

The one game request my son had was for Snatch the Rat.  It’s turned out to be a favorite game.  I blogged about it here.

messhall

When the games were complete, we moved to the mess hall for some grub.  We served hot dogs, root beer, potato chips and cupcakes.  We also had a bucket of peanuts.

grub

Let me tell you, it’s awfully funny to hear wound up seven year old cowboy talk around your kitchen table.

gifts

We opened gifts.

candles

We blew out candles.

Aranchhand

I was grateful for all the help I got from my ranch hands.  They raided closets to look the part and helped everything run smoothly.

done

And then it was over.  The Bar T.H. Ranch closed and we cleaned up the place.

happyT

We were left with one very happy cowboy.  And a happy family.  It was a great party.

Seven.

I walked out my front door yesterday and this sight stopped me cold.

Tvans

When did this happen?  How is it that my youngest son is turning SEVEN?!?  I stood there a minute, remembering how important it was to him to have this very pair of shoes.  Vans like his oldest brother.

Tintree

He looks so much like his brothers did at this age.  I just can’t believe that it’s already been seven years since he joined our family.  Seven awesome years that have slipped through my fingers in spite of my efforts to hold onto them.

I hope he has a great day today.  Happy birthday to my little man!

HH

Fourteen Years!

Fourteen years ago today, my oldest daughter was born.  What a gift the years have been, and how thankful we were to celebrate her birthday today.


She is strong, beautiful, happy, spontaneous, smart and funny.  She has a natural tendency to enjoy being alive.  She’s a dream come true and I love her heart.


Notice the rainbow?  How often do you look outside on your birthday when it hasn’t been raining and see a double rainbow in the sky?  We all went outside to watch it until it disappeared.

 

Yesterday we went shopping together for her birthday.  We picked up one of her friends and went to the BYU Women’s soccer game – the first game I’ve ever attended for any sport that is part of the NCAA tournament, and this was a Sweet 16 game!  The rain kept to a drizzle and we had a fantastic time.  We found front row seats across from the Cougar bench and watched 110 minutes of  intense soccer, only to have the game still scoreless after two sudden death overtimes.  Next came a shootout in which both teams tied again, 3-3, followed by a second shootout, this one sudden death.  Both teams matched each other and then Marquette missed a shot, giving BYU an opportunity to win.  The shot was good, BYU won, everyone was screaming and jumping for joy, and they’re in the Elite 8, which will also be played at home!  Going to that game was kind of a last minute addition to our weekend, something that complicated several other things but was such a great opportunity that I couldn’t bear to have her miss it.   After watching her screaming and loving every minute of it, I realized that these seemingly small decisions to make time for special outings is an essential part of the memories we package together of our childhoods.  I watched her and thought that someday she’ll be watching a game with her children and she’ll tell them what it felt like, all those years ago, to be at that game.  I also realized how close she is to leaving home, how soon this swarming crowd of college students will be her world.  Oh, we made a priceless memory at that soccer game!


(Yes, in the picture above she’s hugging a snow shovel.  She was messing around with her Dad.  It’s so goofy but what I love about it is that it’s totally her .  The smile – she’s actually laughing – the light in her eyes, everything about it is who she really is.  She has this habit of striking a comical pose for all her pictures, so they’re always funny but never really her .  I can’t tell you how happy I was to snap this one.)

Today brought breakfast in bed, a new skirt to wear to church, ping pong in the basement with her Dad, and a game of chess with him as well.  I made one of her favorite meals for dinner topped off by what’s become the norm for her:  dutch apple pie instead of cake.   It was a great day and I think my favorite part was the warm, genuine hug of thanks that she gave me.

I am not always the mother she needs or deserves, but I am so thankful to be her mother.  She has been a joy to me all her life.  I wish I could slow down these years just ahead, but I know we’ll live them more like we’re in front of a fire hose.  Today, at least, was a day to slow down and enjoy, and for that I am grateful.

Jennifer

1 2 3 4 5 7