This post happened about a month ago on Feb. 27th, 2011. Carlee woke up on this Sunday morning to a birthday present and cinnamon rolls. We decided to give her our present early before the day got away from us.
She received a lot of her "most favorite things" such as: a Rainbow striped shirt (anything rainbow for this girl is the perfect gift), toy story stickers, a journal (she is learning how to write sentences and is ready to practice), the movie "Spirit," face paint (one of the main things she was asking for this birthday), a beautiful cupcake frame (to hold her birthday picture) and more Lisa Frank stickers..... one of the bigger presents was throwing her a Cowgirl party at the park (party's are EXPENSIVE)
Cinnamon rolls for breakfast with a candle and song started this birthday girls day off right.
We spent most of the morning preparing for Carlee's Cowgirl Birthday party. We had it at Borrough's park. We packed up Uncle Peter's truck with all the stuff we needed for the party.
We brought everything, but the kitchen sink..... this truck was full of festivities. As you can tell, Carlee is already in cowgirl mode.
Daddy iced Carlee's cupcake boot cake that morning. Carlee helped plan this party. She had made a picture of her cake prior to her birthday and hung it on her door all of February to remind us. She wanted a brown boot, with a yellow star in the middle and a yellow spur. Daddy is definitely qualified for this task...... don't you remember his mad Gingerbread making skills. More cake photo's to come....
The cake..... and all it's GLORY!! Way to go bebe..... I should have never doubted you. We had lots of food. Nana and Grandpa brought the chicken fingers and pigs and a blanket. Grammy and Pawpaw brought the fruit (thank goodness for those strawberries), we supplied the Cheetos (the only food Zachary ate..... not really), Chex Mix, and veggies..... Thank you grandparents for all your help...... I couldn't have done it without you!!!! 
Carlee had so many ideas about her party and actually made the planning fairly easy, she made lots of pictures of her party to help me out. She made one of her standing in front of a barn with a Happy Birthday banner over her head. So I decided to make her a homemade banner to hang across the trees (no barn), but unfortunately we have no pictures of its glory. The wind was pretty strong that day, so the one picture I have does not give it justice.
Before the party began, we had all the cowgirls go and take a picture here at this hay bail display. All of the guest received a note upon arrival, telling them what to complete at the party in order to be a partner of "Carlee's Run Around Round Up Gang" (this helped the guest know what to expect at the party and kept them from running off and playing on the playground equipment).
The pictures were taken by my friend Amy Chapelle, who is one of my close friends and happens to be a professional photographer. After the girls had their picture taken, they made a cowgirl frame. I got the frames at Michael's for $1 and Greg spray painted them cute colors. Then the girls decorated them with sparkle letters, stars and a wooden boot. They turned out really cute! Carlee is such a crafty girl, this activity was a definite to-do.
The girls all had a chance to lasso a Longhorn at the party.... NO, NOT A REAL ONE...... just a wooden sawhorse. My friend Lindsey borrowed this for me from her neighbor. Uh, yeah, that's confusing, but thank goodness to friends that know friends who have things you might need. Here Carlee is sitting on the Longhorn with her friend Sarah.
Aunt Rachel and Uncle John came and enjoyed the craziness.
This little butterfly made it's appearance at Carlee's party. One of the unplanned moments was taking in its beauty. The girls loved watching it flutter by and many of them were wanting to find a safe place for it to stay. Gotta love moments like these..... this butterfly reminds me of Carlee and the way she approaches life by taking notice of the little things and appreciating beauty. It also reminds me of how Carlee floats through this life without a care in the world, and how she graces people with her presence and seems to leave places better off than it was.
Another part of the party was spent doing stick-horse relay races. Here the girls are taking off from the start. It really wasn't a race..... Carlee did not want it to be a competition, so we kept it fun and exciting.
Zachary walked his horse slowly down the line. He was in no hurry to get off. You can tell he enjoyed it a lot. In his mind he is probably going slow, so the girls would have to wait on him (but who knows....) 
Carlee and her friend Tiffany not far behind.
Another activity (we did not capture on camera) was dancing in the Barnyard Ho-Down. It was like a square dance. Carlee and I taught the girls the motions and we all danced. The only drawback to this party was the hard wind gusts that came every so often. It made decorating hard, but fortunately it did not stop us from lighting the candles on Carlee's cake. The last activity the cowgirls did, was sing this Birthday Cowgirl her birthday song. They all received badges for coming and participating in the birhday celebration!
The funnest part about birthday's are the presents (especially to a 6 year old). It was a little chaotic with all the girls huddled around Carlee, but Carlee was unfazed by all the distraction.
Here is the best picture I got of all the guest. I still think some were not in this one.
How is it that this is the only picture I have of me and Carlee on her birthday??? haha.... Thank goodness for my friend Amy. I know she got a good one.
Just us cowgirls with our cowgirl hats....... and a few boy scouts (seen in the background). That's what happens when you don't reserve a pavillon for a party, but hey... it saved money.
I love this shot. It reminds me of how close these two have grown together this past year. I have always told my kids that they are each others best friends and if they can't be friends with each other first, then they will have a hard time being a friend. Thankfully, they took those times of teaching and put them into practice (even at the party). I love the family God gave us! 
Grammy and PawPaw dressed all western for the party too. Don't they look so great!!
After the party died down, Carlee opened her presents from Grammy and Pawpaw.
Here she is hugging her new white dress, also know as her "bride" dress.
Another favorite gift was the Fur Real chip muck or "squirrel"
With all the set up and tear down involved, we waited until we got home to open Nana and Grandpa's gifts. Carlee received a butterfly wind chime craft, Hello Kitty rain boats, and Twinkle Toe Sketchers (light up, rainbow glitter shoes) Thanks mom and dad for blessing our daughter!!
Carlee enjoyed a sweet time in Nana's lap laughing
GG hand-painted a wooden dress up doll for Carlee. GG is an artist, so this gift is very special!! 
Carlee with Grandpa
Oh yes...... we did get a picture with our big 6 year old on her birthday. How the time has flown! 
Carlee-
The funnest part about birthday's are the presents (especially to a 6 year old). It was a little chaotic with all the girls huddled around Carlee, but Carlee was unfazed by all the distraction.
Here is the best picture I got of all the guest. I still think some were not in this one.
How is it that this is the only picture I have of me and Carlee on her birthday??? haha.... Thank goodness for my friend Amy. I know she got a good one.Just us cowgirls with our cowgirl hats....... and a few boy scouts (seen in the background). That's what happens when you don't reserve a pavillon for a party, but hey... it saved money.
I love this shot. It reminds me of how close these two have grown together this past year. I have always told my kids that they are each others best friends and if they can't be friends with each other first, then they will have a hard time being a friend. Thankfully, they took those times of teaching and put them into practice (even at the party). I love the family God gave us! 
Grammy and PawPaw dressed all western for the party too. Don't they look so great!!
After the party died down, Carlee opened her presents from Grammy and Pawpaw.Here she is hugging her new white dress, also know as her "bride" dress.
Another favorite gift was the Fur Real chip muck or "squirrel"
With all the set up and tear down involved, we waited until we got home to open Nana and Grandpa's gifts. Carlee received a butterfly wind chime craft, Hello Kitty rain boats, and Twinkle Toe Sketchers (light up, rainbow glitter shoes) Thanks mom and dad for blessing our daughter!!
Carlee enjoyed a sweet time in Nana's lap laughing
GG hand-painted a wooden dress up doll for Carlee. GG is an artist, so this gift is very special!! 
Carlee with Grandpa
Oh yes...... we did get a picture with our big 6 year old on her birthday. How the time has flown! 
Carlee-This party was something you desired to have because you love your friends and family and wanted to share your birthday with the people you love. Even though it was hard for mommy to prepare and I ended up getting sick because I got so stressed about the party, I did it because I love you. If it were up to mommy, I would have just celebrated the day with our family. But since there are so many people in your life that love you, and since your heart is bigger than this world.... we had a PARTY. It was such a great party..... full of love, laughter, silliness, and fun. I know you enjoyed it!! What a special day!! You are so loved sweetheart! May each day be a day to celebrate. You bring joy to our lives and make everyday better. May God bless you this year and help you understand just how special you are and how much He loves you!!
Love, Your Mommy
