Where do we start? So much fun and laughter was happening, it's hard to remember it all!  I believe this was one of our largest parties!  We celebrated with nearly 30 children and their families.  We began the night with a shoe race game and then onto the all-time favorite, musical chairs.  The two older boys went head to head at the end, it was a close competitive race to the finish.  Next, we played valentine bingo, in which every player got a bingo as well as a prize.  The kids also enjoyed making valentine goody bags.  Some said they were making them for their moms, dad, and friends. They were all given candy hearts, pencils and little packages they had to punch a balloon popped out, to put in their bags.These were terrific. 

Our six year old birthday boy was absolutely overjoyed with his party and all of his gifts.  He received new clothes, shoes, as well as transformers and other toys. There definitely was no hiding the delight on his face!  A particular favorite seemed to be his new cars pillow! Thank you Debby Case for giving such comfort to these kids. 

With all of the people, we somehow managed this organized chaos and everyone was all smiles.  As always, thanks again to our volunteers and donors.  Jen Ragan made a delicious cake for our birthday boy.  Kids and parents enjoyed cake, rainbow sherbet and juice.  Thank you to Shawnette Scott, Melissa Hardin, Sheryl Smith for volunteering, and especially Samantha Howell, for the spectacular birthday gifts and goody bags! We hope you all join us again!

Yesterday, we were so fortunate to have our first party at St. Francis.  We celebrated with about 20 kids and three birthday children. Thanks to Hailey and Caroline, two wonderful young girls who helped organize the games. You were so great with the kids. We started off with game of caterpillar, where the kids made a train and had to keep balloons in between them without dropping them.  This was so much fun and proved to be quite a challenge at times. Next, we had musical chairs, which was fun for parents and kids. We ended with freeze dance and a couple of rounds of duck duck goose. Our birthday boys thoroughly enjoyed this, and were caught in the moment chasing each other.

The 7 year old birthday boys loved their GI Joe toys, paper airplane makers, army guys, pajamas, as well as books. Thanks to Debby Case for the perfect pillows homemade for each of our birthday kids.  They hugged them and smiled.  Each birthday child also got their very own birthday cake! We sang happy birthday and they blew out the candles, meticulously licking the frosting from each candle as they took them off. Everyone enjoyed a variety of cake and ice cream.  Our one year old birthday girl absolutely loved her cake! She had more on her face than in her mouth. It was so adorable.  What a great moment.  Lastly, every child received a goody bag full of fun.

Thank you to Staci Creighton, Erica Anderson, Amy & Harvey Taylor, and Donna Ralls for your donations and time.  

A Very Special Thank You:  This party was sponsored by Tim and Sunday Kamppi, Ned and Joanna Kjeldgaard, and Mary Kamppi, in memory of Rodney Kamppi and Shane Guist. Their memory lives on and keeps giving. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this party, and especially thank you for your big hearts.

Please check out our Facebook page for some great photos of this party.  Seeing the smiles on the children is a great reminder of why we do this and what life is all about.

We started the new year off with a great party. First off, the kids divided in two teams and were off like rockets on the scavenger hunt.  This seems to be one of the top favorites among the kids!  Lots of excitement, energy and running around.  At the end, they all found their goody bags full of surprises!  Thanks again to Shawnette Scott who never fails to come through with goodies for the children! 

Next, we played bingo, which was fun for the whole family.  Lots of kiddos will be enjoying their McDonald's bucks after getting a 'Bingo.'  We had three birthday children, a 13 year old boy, 11 and 15 year old girls!  Each birthday child received a new pillow and homemade pillow case. Thank you to Debby Case for your great talents and big heart. The children loved them.

Our boy enjoyed his cologne, gloves, new wallet, game, book and gift card. Our 11 year old girl loved her friendship bracelet kit, book, game, and gift card.  Our 15 year old was away playing sports, but in our hearts.  We celebrated with 20 kids and their families. We closed with cupcakes, juice and a group photo. Can't wait til next month.  Check out the great pictures.  Thanks to Jen Ragan and Melissa Hardin for the yummy cupcakes, and Amy Taylor and Erica Anderson for donations. Also, a big thank you to our new volunteers Tina Powell and Erin Audley for their donations and time! We are so thankful for all of you and your big hearts. 

Last Sunday was a great celebration! We celebrated with a four year old girl and a 13 year old boy and a total of about 30 kids. We started off with activities for everyone. The children enjoyed games involving cotton balls, blindfolds, and tossing balls into buckets to get the highest points. While this fun was being had, preparations were made to get the gingerbread house decorating underway.The kids had so much fun with this, even with the messy frosting, many of which, ate these yummy treats. Next we had cake and ice cream. Check out the pictures of the magnificent cake pops by the talented Julie Reimer. The children couldn't get enough of these. The birthday kids received wonderful new pillows and homemade pillowcases among other gifts while the other children received goody bags , donated by Shawnette Scott. Thanks to a generous donation from Russell's Salon, every child received a Christmas gift and new pajamas. The smiles were endless as were the piles of wrapping paper on the floor! This party was sponsored by the parents from Dallas United Methodist Church. A hugh thank you to the Martinelli's, Reimer's, Hajdu-Paulen's, Parry's, and Connolly families for their hard work and blessings to these children

Our November party was sponsored by Dallas High School girls, Margi Anderson and Maddi Winters. They did a terrific job entertaining all 26 kids! Upon arrival, pictures of each family were taken and then developed. They were each given a picture and frame for them to keep. What a special gift for them. The kids then took turns playing musical chairs and the bean bag toss game. We were blessed again to have Jingles the Clown join us. The face painting continues to be a main attraction! We celebrated our 17 year old birthday boy, as well as had a spectacular balloon release for Lydia and all the November birthday children in Heaven. The children enjoyed delicious cupcakes and ice cream. In addition, thanks to a generous donor, each child received their very own Beanie Baby as well as goody bag! We had a wonderful turnout of donors and volunteers again. Thank you to Staci Creighton, Tammy McCool, Julie and Scot McDonald, Dan & Nancy Greer, Gail Holmes, Sheronne Blasi, Melissa Hardin, Chris Anderson, Jenni Anderson, Lee Cummins and a special thank you to the Dallas High girls

October party was another amazing time. We gathered rain or shine! We celebrated with about 25 kids, 25 adults and our 8 year old birthday girl. The children enjoyed a competitive game of musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey and some ring toss and freeze dance games. The place was full of music, laughter and smiles. We were very blessed to have the talented Jingles the clown ...attend and paint nearly everyone's face. Dolphins, flowers, and spiders seem to be the most popular! It was wonderful to see such a big turnout of volunteers and donors. Thank you to Melissa Hardin for the delicious cupcakes.

Our birthday girl loved her new clothes and gifts. Every child also each received a book of their own and a goody bag full of fun. The mustaches were a hit. Thank you to the Jingles the clown, the Boulay family, Shawnette Scott, Erica Anderson, Debbie Case, Julie McDonald, Laura Perez, Kari Davis, Karen Peterson, Janet Webster, Sheronne Blasi, Nicole Jordan, and our Dallas High School Girls Margi Anderson and Maddie Winters.  

September's birthday kids included two adorable little girls, a 3 year old and a 6 year old.  We had such a great time! The party started with Rope Busters jump rope team from Dallas.  They showed the kids some moves and tricks, then all the kids got to try out jump roping, which they totally loved!  One little boy learned to jump rope for the first time and he was so excited!  After the jump roping we sang Happy Birthday to the birthday girls, passed our cupcakes, ice cream sandwiches, and juice. 

After the birthday presents were opened and all the cupcakes were finished, the kids enjoyed a water balloon toss.  The party ended with otter pops and a craft for all the kids to take with them.  We had some very cute comments made by the kids at this party.  One 11 year old boy asked if he could give us a hug and then asked if we could help him start us his own BBQ business. He said that he wanted to cook BBQ food and take it to the homeless people down by the bridge. We told him we would think about how to do this and talk with him at the next party. If anyone has any ideas for him, please let us know. What a heart!

Another little boy, a 9 year old came to us as we were getting ready to leave and asked, "How much do we have to pay you to come here?" We said, "Nothing at all. We come because we love to do this." He replied, "Wow, that is just great," and thanked us for being there. These kids are amazing and have the biggest hearts.

Thank you to all our volunteers: Janet Webster, Amy Taylor, Debbie Case, Julie McDonald, Julie Reimer, Sandy Johnson and Erika Anderson.

This month we had two birthday girls ages 6 and 7, and a birthday boy, aged 8.  We celebrated with a total of 15 kids and lots of adults.  The children began the party with a hula hoop race, then onto an egg relay. This turned out to be very exciting and challenging for the kids. They all got goodies and especially loved the bubbles. After that, we went indoors for some artwork (which will be posted soon) and cake, ice cream, and presents.  We would like to thank all of our wonderful volunteers and donors who helped put the beautiful smiles on the children's faces. Julie Reimer did an amazing job on the gumball cake, as well as taking great photos. Also thank you to Amy Taylor and Janet Webster for volunteering at the party and contributing to this great cause. Julie McDonald, Erica Anderson, and Marge Hilts also made gracious donations. Seeing the smiles on the children's faces was priceless.

For the July party, the birthday kids were a 16 year old girl and an 8 year old boy.  We started the party with some games including bingo.  Thanks to a generous donation of new books, every child received one.  All of the children went outside to take turns smashing the pinata until it finally broke and tons of toys and candy spilled out!  The kids enjoyed ice cream and a cake decorated very creatively in a beach scene with teddy graham bears in bathing suits..it was amazing!  We ended the party with presents.  Thank you to Sheronne Blasi, Amy Taylor, and Julie Reimer!

This was our first birthday party as Lydia's Love at the YWCA Shelter.  We had two birthday boys, a 6 year old and a 10 year old.  The party started with a scavenger hunt with two teams.  The kids had to gather clues from all around the shelter and outside to make their way to the prize...the goody bags!  After the scavenger hunt, the kids played pin the tale on the donkey.  We ended the activities with some fun music and freeze dance.  All the kids were dancing around, and one little girl was really getting down!  After all the activities, we sang Happy Birthday and opened the presents.  Thank you Lincoln Hathawa for your initial support and ongoing contributions!