when life gives you lemons...

you have the party anyway.

(pardon the "no skipping of lines" in this post. blogger is having it out with me. and i don't even know what i did to deserve it.)

this is a little overdue. but here it is nonetheless.

we decided to have a first birthday party for the goo. and in a moment of temporary insanity and mental weakness, we decided to throw it outside.

(pause)

SURELY i have mentioned my feelings re: summer weather. better yet, my feelings toward summer weather in texas in JULY.

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S GOOD AND HOLY, WHERE WAS MY BRAIN?

well, as some blogs have mentioned, it has rained a lot, A LOT, here this summer. now, you won't hear me complaining (as much as i could) because it has kept the temperatures below 100, which is good. it has, however, not kept the humidity level below 614%, thank you very much.

the combination of all these weather-related issues: sweat, bad hair, greasy face.

that combination does not lend itself to a happy lady. (but this day wasn't about me. it was about the goo.)

so i'm pretty sure it rained the entire day last sunday. party at 4. rain stopped at 3:50. resident mosquitoes came to greet our guests one by one as they arrived. we're hospitable like that.

i was so bummed. so bummed that i didn't even put the goo in her swimsuit. because putting her in the pool so meant that i had to get in the pool. and clearly no other adults were getting in this pool with all of the other 3- and 4-year-olds. (goo doesn't have any of her own friends yet.) so i would be the only one.

so she just wore her lounge pants and birthday t-shirt and looked cute for the two-hour shindig.

and here is the silver lining. or the lemonade, if you will.

buz and i have amazing friends. my first guest to arrive forgot swimsuits for her children (even though it clearly stated it on the invitation). but they were happy to be playing outside, in the 217% humidity. troopers. second guest to arrive came, swimsuit in tow, ready to get wet.

so the three of us mommies stood there (with me moping, i might add), and weentrab said something to the fact, "let's have this party anyway." (sorry weentrab, i can't quote you verbatim. you said something like that, right?) and so we did. i put away my camera, held the goo, offered cold drinks to all who were present, and buz headed out to the grill. (God bless you, buz. interestingly enough, no one other than weentrab's husband went to talk to buz. guess 344% humidity combined with the heat of an open grill doesn't attract a lot of company. looked like buz had taken a dip in the pool in his clothes. only, he hadn't.)

guests came. dinner was served. cake was served. cookie cake was served.

and in the end, fun was had by all. and goo was celebrated and honored. and that was most important.

and big h was only in time out once.

again...success, people.

clearly, she was so enthused. (goo was running on one little nap at this point.)

this was about as messy as she got. too tired, i guess. and bull if i was going to let her put her fingers in my beautiful cake. oh no, she was NOT going to do that.

this was her birthday invitation.