Parties and Such

Our weekend seemed like it was jam packed. It was, but it really seemed like it this time. It was the big girl's birthday party. It was a water logged and giggly girl weekend. Did I ever giggle that much when I was 11?

The water slide got dropped off on Friday. We had rented it for Saturday, but they weren't able to deliver on Saturday. We were good with that. When it was all set up and the guys were ready to leave, one says, "We'll be back on Monday to pick it up." Dropped off Friday, picked up Monday and we only pay for one day? You got it! As it was getting set up, the thunder started booming south of us. You could see the storm building, the clouds dark and ominous. It stayed that way until almost dark. We were bound and determined to get on that slide. We blew it up, filled up the landing pool, and took off. We only got a couple of rides in, but it was fun.

Saturday, we were all up early, finishing all that last minute stuff. About 9 or so, we started blowing up the slide and filling the pool. The big girl had a friend come over early, and that was the first thing they wanted to do. I can't blame them. My nieces arrived a short time later and quickly got changed and headed out to the slide. I was helping one of nieces when hubby came running inside. One of my nieces dislocated her elbow. I'm still not sure I got all the details, but hubby and his brother were headed to the emergency room. Not a great way to start a party. It didn't slow the kids down any. Yelling at them to slow down didn't help either. They ended up putting a cast on my niece and home she went with her mama.

The big girl had requested an ice cream cake. I got a recipe from a friend that is fantastic and easy, easy, easy. The first time I made one was for hubby and they have become the standard request for birthday cakes now. She wanted chocolate everything, but it seemed like too much even to me. So we compromised and ended up with vanilla ice cream, which really helps. We had a fruit tray, two dips, a veggie tray, a cheese tray, chips, sodas, cows in a blanket (I used beef sausages), and sausage balls. There was more food than we knew what to do with, but hungry kids wiped out most of it. Sun + water + kids = healthy appetites.

We came in at one point because of the weather. It wasn't the rain. Afterall, we were on a water slide. It was the thunder and lightning. We did the cake to pass the time, then opened presents. The big girl got earrings, nail polish, money, and a rip stick. She's been wanting all of those things, so she had a great birthday. We went down to the road after everyone had left so she could ride her ripstick. And she had her two bestfriends spend the night with her. It was a banner day.

I had put messages on Facebook for or homeschool friends to join us. We were given a great gift by having the slide as long as we did and I wanted to share. Nobody took us up on our offer, but that was alright, too. Sunday we all had sunburned faces and couple of us had really sweet tans. Sunscreen was applied and reapplied, but after being out all day, it could only do so much. The baby is the most beautiful nut brown color. It was a great weekend and we are all tired now. We finally let the slide down about 6:30 last night. It was time.

I'm sorry you weren't here. You would have had a great time. Now it's laundry and clean up and a little bit of school. Tomorrow is our first field trip. I'll post about it when I can. My prayer today for you is one of joy and love and fruitfulness.

Have a great day!