Ronald McDonald House Winter Wonderland

On January 2, 2010 I hosted my first event at the Ronald McDonald House in New Haven. It was a Winter Wonderland themed party for the kids who were staying at the house. Before the event started, I dropped off the 14 pounds of soda tabs that I had collected thus far. Thank you so much to everyone who helped collect tabs! I am continuing to collect tabs, so please keep saving them.

The event started off with gingerbread house making. We were joined by a little girl named Alejandra. Although she didn't speak much English, she understood how to make a gingerbread house. She ended up making two and decorated them with lots of colorful candies. Alejandra's mother explained that they were staying in the house because Alejandra's baby brother had undergone open-heart surgery recently. I was so glad that we could provide the family with entertainment during their stay at the house.

After making gingerbread houses, we played bingo. Sarah and Brianna helped Alejandra by saying the numbers in Spanish. She ended up winning, and got a stuffed animal as a prize. We were then joined by a little girl named Mia, who got a thrill out of spinning the bingo wheel and chasing after the yellow balls which came out.

Trinette helped the girls make beaded bracelets and necklaces. Alejandra especially had fun helping Trinette find the gold beads she was using in her patterned necklace. Once they were done making jewelry, we were joined by another girl named Lydia. We decorated funfetti cupcakes with multicolored frosting and snowflake sprinkles. Eloise decorated shirts for Alejandra, Mia, and Lydia. She drew a horse on each shirt and used colorful fabric paint and glitter to personalize them for each of the girls.

Before the day was over, Mia enjoyed taking pictures with Sarah's digital camera. Her inner photographer came out as she took hundreds of pictures and even motioned for us to pose with our hands on our hips for her. She was adorable! Thank you so much to everyone who came and helped out...I could not have done it without all the help and support!