Humble Acts of Kindness

During the holidays, it's become routine to take Bunny out to buy toys and clothes for underprivileged children. We also donate food to our local food bank and get involved in her school's food and monetary donations. In addition, Mr. Winey will cook a very large Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner so we can make plates to share with those who are down-and-out on the streets as well.

But then I came across a couple of mommy bloggers who started doing random acts of kindness and getting their kiddos involved in the process. It went beyond holiday giving and continued throughout the year. Duh!

So this summer I made a point to create a small list for Bunny that she and I (and Mr. Winey when he wasn't working) could complete and have fun with.

 • Cake for everyone! We celebrated my sisters birthday and Bunny decided she wanted to bake Aunt K's cake on her own. She had a very specific idea of what she wanted the cake to look like (big) and chose the flavors (chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate).

• After we each had a slice of chocolate cake from the tower of diabetes, Bunny shared the rest of the cake with our waiter and all of the kids in the restaurant! There were even more leftovers to take to a friend and her kids as well. Like I said, cake for everyone!

 • Sweets and treats. (Again.) We really love baking and we really enjoy sharing our confections. 
Mr. Winey held a summer band camp for two weeks and Bunny and I made sweets and lunch for our friends (new and old) as often as we could.

• Hot Dog Party! Bunny suggested to Mr. Winey that he should have a hot dog party with his band. So he did. 

• Then there was a water balloon and water gun fight for the summer band students (and Bunny). Bunny helped supervise the college student volunteers make the water balloons... and reaped the benefits. 

• We donated clothes to local church organizations. Many, if not all, of her clothes will help give a new immigrant child a clean set of hand-me-downs who have recently crossed over our border. 

• I paid for the person behind me at the drive-thru on a pit stop to Starbucks. Bunny said to throw in a cupcake. So I did.

• Bunny now passes out stickers to kids while we wait to be seated at restaurants. 

• We baked cupcakes for our local fire department.

• We baked cookies for our police officers.

• Bunny handed out bubbles to kids at her favorite park.

• Mr. Winey and Bunny passed out popsicles to city workers who work out in the blazing summer heat.

• Bunny donated a few of her gently used books to Burlington Book Buddies. She also donated the new ones she received from her book clubs (Junie B. Jones® Kids Club, Half Price Books® - Bookworm Bucks). For every book you donate, Burlington will match up to 55k children's books for one month. 

• Bunny handed out a bag of popcorn to kids at our frequent Redbox location with a little note. 

• Bunny drew a picture for our librarian and donated a book she received from Barnes and Noble - Imagination's Destination. 

• There is a quaint hidden eatery we go to as a family weekly that has those old-fashioned candy and gumball machines. Before we leave, Bunny leaves a quarter in each machine as a nice surprise for  anyone who wants a treat. 

• Bunny stuck Post-Its® on random cars in a store parking lot with a cute message or a smiley face. 

• I let a mom go in front of me at the check-out line. She had four kids and looked exhausted. I did the same thing for an older man later that week. 

• We baked cakes for friends. Just because.

• Bunny left chalk messages on the sidewalks at our local university. 


I was ambitious and thought we'd be able to do so much more this summer. But, between mini vacations, play dates, and summer camps, I was happy we even made a dent in our list! 


H-E-Buddy Rockin' Summer Reading Club
Pizza Hut Book It!

It's a monster birthday!

Every year I have the best time planning Bunny's birthday parties. I love spending that extra time with my sister, mom, and baby girl making party favors, creating a themed menu and finding fun recipes to try. Last years "Fairy, Unicorns, and Rainbows" party was by far the best and most fun to create. But this year, on Bunny's 7th birthday, she wanted to have her party at a bouncy castle party place where all they offer the kids are several types of bouncy castles, music, and a ping pong table. They actually like the simplicity of that. So, in true mommy fashion, I gave Bunny what she wanted - a Monster High/Bouncy Castle party. And she loved it. I, on the other hand, did not. Not really. 

First of all, I really don't like that MH is primarily dark and black. Not so cute for a seventh birthday party. And second, there wasn't much planning to do. Just pay to save the date, food, and a few party favors. Yes, I was going through party planning withdrawals. BUT!, I was able to make it a little more personal. So instead of having a monster themed menu and Spectra's ghost bubbles, I was able to get Bunny drawn up as a Monster High character. Her favorite MH ghoul is Clawdeen, the wolf. So Bunny wanted to be depicted as Clawdeen's little sister. Done. And the rest kind of fell into place.

Bunny as Clawdeen's baby sister.

Cake Table

Neptuna mini-birthday cake. I originally sketched up an awesome three-tier cake but plans fell through (Bunny only wanted cupcakes). Fine. Day of party, Bunny realizes she doesn't have a cake to blow out her candle. She begs for a cake and this is the result - a six inch mermaid/pink piranha cake.

I made personalized top hats instead of buying the pre-made black hats with the skullette. The girls liked them and the adults wore them. I'd say double win!

Cupcakes (quadruple chocolate cupcakes) topped with edible glitter, pearl candies, and pearl Sixlets with cool whip frosting.

Valentine's Day box I turned into a birthday card holder.

Bones (mini marshmallows, pretzels, dipped in white chocolate)

Raspberry Kool-Aid, really. I found a beautiful photo over on Deviantart that an artist created. I just had to use it. The kids loved it!

Buffet of fruit, cheese burgers, nachos, and Frito pies.

Centerpieces - There were more candy, stickers, and vampire teeth in here before I took this pic. 

No party would be complete without a piñata. This is supposed to be Lagoona Blue. 

And finally, here we have Venus McFlytrap sitting next to... yes, a real living venus flytrap. This was Bunny's idea and one that she made sure I followed through with. 

This party is officially over and I'm glad. Only thing left to do is send out those darn Thank You cards.