Saturday morning was abuzz with birthday party preparations and I really appreciate how much work L and my dear husband did to make the party a reality. In spite of feeling better in general, I was still a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of having all these people at my house and even more overwhelmed by the preparations. This year, V is lucky she had a party at all. If L hadn't been in town and A so willing to do most of the work, I would have definitely cancelled the party. As it turned out, it was all perfect.
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Everyone was late, but that was okay, because it gave us a few minutes of feeling like "ahh..." before people started arriving.
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We were incredibly disappointed to find that our closest friends here punished their two older children by not allowing them to come to the party. Just a note for all you parents out there - pick a different punishment for your kids in the event they need a serious consequence to their actions. It is not fair to punish the birthday child. I understand my friends' stance, but I don't agree at all. And the fact that my kid was sitting on the couch crying when she realized her BEST friend wasn't coming to her birthday party, well, that made for some hurt feelings all around.
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My mom came and her friend, K, who the kids love. My friend Al and her youngest child. My friend L (who was here from Atlanta) and her son. My friends, M and D, and their son. It was a small party, not near what we had planned for. There were a few who had said they'd be here and didn't show and a couple others who had prior engagements. In all, it turned out to be exactly what we could handle for the day and it was lovely. Once others arrived, V was distracted enough not to notice the absences.
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When everyone left, A and I cleaned up and then I laid down for a nap since we had plans to have drinks with our neighbors later on. That was fun too. We have a feeling these neighbors (who have 10 and 6 year old daughters) will become nice friends. V and their younger daughter are going to be in the same religious ed class at church, so we'll take turns picking them up...
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Yesterday, we went to A's parents' house (they were supposed to come to us, but A got a call that he was needed to play drums at church that night, which is past where his parents live). We had a little birthday lunch for V with her grandparents and greatgrandparents. It was fun and I am so disappointed that I forgot my camera at home since the 85 year old greats were wearing party hats and blowing little noisemakers. We went to church last night and for the first time EVER, Little A was well behaved. It was awesome when I praised her and told her how proud I was (normally, she goes to the nursery because she won't behave in church), she looked at me with a great big smile and said "I'm so proud of daddy for playing the drums!" She also got a kick out of high-fiving the priest during communion (he's awesome!) after her blessing.
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So, basically, we had an awesome weekend. Opposite end of the spectrum from last weekend. It was good to have some time with friends and just plain be reminded of how much a part I am of this wonderful life we've created.
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Until next time, God Bless you.
