It Takes A Village

This post is going to be a shameless shout out to my friends - old and new - who save me from the dangers that come with raising four children often and on a consistent basis. So, if you are one of those friends - grab a cup of joe and plan to be THANKED (sorry, no money is attached to this offering ;o).

It takes a village to raise a child, and apparently it takes a village to give a two year old a party, in the rain, in a teeny-tiny house after you've invited approximately 20+ children (and their loving parents) and thoughtfully planned for an OUTSIDE party.

To celebrate our BABY turning TWO, I had planned a lovely outside party for a boat load of kids and as luck would have it turns out they actually had to go home in boats. So, I guess you could say fate took a funny turn. ;o)

The party was planned from 3-5 p.m. which seemed like a smart idea when we planned it. The kids could eat a semi-healthy dinner, get lots of energy out (did I say - OUTSIDE???), get sugared up, and then go home, bathe (presumably - I'm not judging here), and GO TO BED. Yippee for the parents, eh? Well, like I said, it seemed like a great idea. And then a little thing called Hurricane Julia (??? I have trouble with names, but you get the idea) decided to hit the coast and wreak all kinds of havoc with our normally drought-like weather. Thank you, Julia. Note to yourself: You are NOT welcome in my village.

So, just to give you folks that were not actually a part of this party (by the end of this post you will be thanking your lucky stars) a little idea of how things progressed yesterday, here is a time-line of events.

8:00 a.m. - It could go either way weather-wise. I say LOTS of prayers for NO RAIN at church.
9:00 a.m. - The weather seems to be holding. Thank you, God.
10:00 a.m. - I am feeling fairly good about going ahead with the party - it's important to know that Saturday night I did NOTHING party-wise because it was POURING so I just assumed we'd have to cancel it (darn). So Sunday morning I had to kick it into HIGH gear. Cupcakes are started (48 of them), taco bar is on, pinata is stuffed and put up, yard is cleaned (again - since it rained non-stop through the night and all the work husband and son did Saturday is now ruined), and house is 'cleaned.'
11:00 a.m. - Sky clouds up and it looks like rain. Um, God: WHERE ARE YOU??? I question our decision. Husband lays down the law and says, "The show will go on unless there is a downpour before 3:00 p.m." Thank you, husband for making an executive decision because I am unable to do that.
12:00 noon - I think the sun may have made its first appearance in two days at this point.
1:00 p.m. - I tell husband, "Let's change the party from 2-4 because I am having a 'feeling.' Husband basically says, "No feelings."
2:00 p.m. - Still bright (not so much SUNNY, but not doom and gloom).
2:30 p.m. - There is a GIANT and very black cloud moving toward our house.
2:52 p.m. - Three other children that live in this house announce, "IT'S RAINING MOM!!! But, just sprinkling. DON'T WORRY, MOM!!!" Apparently God is somewhere dealing with something else. World peace?
3:00 p.m. - It's raining harder. We decide to break from time honored tradition that dates back to days in early Mexico and do the pinata FIRST before the sky breaks open.
3:10 p.m. - The sky breaks open and we barely have time to yank the pinata down from the tree and haul it inside.

3:10 - 5:00 - My wonderful friends save me in several ways. Here are just a few ways that my AWESOME friends helped so that the party was still a success and not total and complete chaos (well, okay it WAS total and complete chaos, but I'd like to think it was a success ;o).

• One quick thinking friend suggested dividing up all the pinata loot and actually RETURNING the pinata (how fab is that???). AND she graciously volunteered to divide the loot (and LABEL the treat bags). I think a couple other friends helped. THANK YOU!
• Friends were so kind about the food. Again, we broke from time honored tradition and did a 'taco bar' instead of our usual hot dogs, queso, and other assorted junk food. THANK YOU for eating it all and saying it was yummy.
• One mom braved the upstairs and watched tiny tots play in L's room for almost the entire party. THANK YOU!
• All our guests acted like it was perfectly normal to proceed with the party in the pouring down rain in our tiny house after inviting like 2000 people. THANK YOU for being so sweet and acting like everything was normal. ;o)
• All the parents kept tabs on their kids to keep damage nonexistent. No mud inside the house!!! THANK YOU!
• No one was peeved that we skipped opening presents.
• Everyone headed out at 5:00 even though it was still pouring. THANK YOU!

Our friends are truly the best. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I could not do it without you.

P.S. - My kids and the husband are pretty great, too. My sweet husband cleaned the whole yard.........twice. Thanks, babe. ;o) My GREAT kids helped me and their dad so much beforehand AND cleaned the upstairs and downstairs toy chaos after the party. What troopers! :o) I think I'll keep all you guys till the next party. :o) HAPPY DAY AFTER YOUR BIRTHDAY, LITTLE L. And now I am going to bed. ;o)