for the love of bostons!

this year for wren's 6th birthday she wanted to invite all her classmates.

we allowed just the girls.

she also wanted to invite a few other friends.

and after mulling over the # of guests...i had a chat with her about perhaps asking her friends to not bring gifts, but instead, if they wanted, they could bring a monetary donation and then wren would donate all the money to a charity of her choice.

she chose MABTR group.

and why?

well...we love animals.  and before we had children, we had a cat and a dog.  the girls have never known life without an animal in our home.  both girls are very tender-hearted towards animals.  and the fact that we have adopted 2 bostons through the rescue group probably factored in, too!  since the day that ruby passed away, both girls have asked for another dog.  wren is quite practical and a quite few times she would "rationalize" to me why we were ready for another pooch.  i wasn't the one to convince.  once the daddy was on-board and ready for another dog...well, we went to the MABTR "adoptable animals listings and chose a couple that we felt might be "right" for us.  Alice was one of them.  her foster-mom brought her over on a friday evening and she has been ours ever since!  the girls adore that little dog!

so i was proud of wren's choice...and she was not bothered at all that she did not get gifts from her friends.  she was happy to just have them all over to her "artist party", do some crafts, play a game or two, and enjoy cuppy cakes!  and since she always gets a bit "spoiled" by family with gifts, she still got to enjoy opening gifts and having some new clothes, toys, craft kits and what-not.  and it was a good "teaching moment" about the importance of not being selfish and looking outsides of oneself and helping others (whether human or animal).  when we talked more about it, she was very proud to be able to help those bostons!

i took her with me to the gal who heads up MABTR and wren was able to give her a card and the money herself.  I felt this was also important - so wren could see that it was given to someone who would make good use of the money. 

so, if you are thinking about getting a pooch...please consider adopting!  you can easily find particular breed rescue groups by doing a search online.  or consider a trip to the humane society for your pet cat or dog!  we got our furry cat, puddy mcfluffkins, from there and we'd recommend you do that, too.  often times pet stores get their dogs from puppy mills - whether they admit this or not.  and puppy mills often have deplorable conditions.  so please adopt, don't shop!

the birthday girl and her pupster enjoying a snuggle together!