A Bubblicous Good Time

So, Tobi turned 2 this week.  We had a little party for her on Monday night, her birthday eve.  I could easily turn this into a NOT ME MONDAY post since it was on a Monday and a plenty of things went awry.  Since we moved the party to a week night we decided to cook the food the day before. The plan was to heat up the chicken and sausages in our electric oven as well as heat up the beans and cook the corn on the electric stove a few minutes before we were to eat.  So when I returned from running a few errands to hear that we had lost electricity the ramifications of that hit me in waves... "oh no, how will I heat up all the food?"...."oh, and no water even if I could heat it up"...."and no water means no toilets"..."oh well, I guess I'll run and take a quick shower before everyone gets here...OR NOT!!!!"  No water meant no shower (perhaps the most disappointing news for me and everyone else!).  How did we lose power on a perfectly beautiful day?  It was a little windy, but THAT windy???  Ben called the power company and they had a recording saying that they were aware of the power outages in the following towns: Hooksett.  Only us?!  Great...20 guests and no food or toilets?  No problem, right? 

Well, as it turned out we managed...thankfully we invited family and friends and not a bunch of critics.  We started up the charcoal grill and started heating up the meat.  I didn't ever really investigate the bathroom situation...I just let people decide what they wanted to do about that :)  Just as we were pulling out the salads from the semi-cold fridge it dawned on us (after looking in the fridge for several minutes) that the light had been on in the fridge!  The power was back on! We quickly heated up the rest of the food and no one was the worse for waiting.

Tobi didn't seem to mind that the power was out at all.  She had been pretty excited for her bubble party, daily listing her guests.  This was her special "bubble" dress -

If you have a bubble party I would highly reccommend hiring this guy:
He cooks -

He provides entertainment -

And he even brought the cake with him -

(Plus he flew in from Indiana the day before and mowed the lawn and prepared the food!...talk about getting your money's worth!) 


It was a special treat to have Tobi's great aunt and uncle and cousins (once removed) who were here visiting from Japan.  We like to bring in some serious out-of-town guests! 

Blowing bubbles with Auntie Linda and Cousin Kayla (Uncle Dean is wearing the shades in the background) -

Stare down with cousin Chris -

Cousin Josh leading the planning meeting at the "boys" table. (We tried to hide the ugly old picnic table around the back of the house but instead it turned into the perfect hide out spot....hmmm)-

 The girls had their own table too...less planning, more eating and chatting -

And of course, no girl time would be complete without some shopping.

Tobi really enjoyed opening her presents.  She is always good for a "Wow!"  or "Whas dat, Tobi?"

There were a few other happenings that made the pre-party prep more than adventurous.  My parents came up early to help me set up and Dad came to finish the great play yard and sandbox he had been building for Tobi.  Mom and I were trying to put up the canopy and she somehow got the part of her hand between her thumb and forefinger pinched in the metal of the pole.  She was in so much pain and I could do nothing to help.  Meanwhile, Tobi was escaping down the driveway and I was torn in those few seconds to leave my mom and rescue my daughter or free my mother from her excruciating pain and then rescue the babe.  Thankfully Tobi was frozen in fear watching us... and VERY thankfully I didn't have to choose, because my dad pulled into the driveway right at that moment...wondering why we were just letting Tobi run free while we were putting up the canopy until he saw me frantically calling for help.  He was quick to think to use something to pry the metal apart just enough to let her hand free.  That was not a fun couple of minutes...thankfully mom was a little battered and bruised but not broken!  Ugh.

We got the canopy up with no further injuries.  And the play yard and sandbox were finished, albeit with out the use of power tools at the end.  You can not use a power saw with out electricity... you can't even charge your cordless tools....but somehow he still managed to finish.  

Despite a few glitches it was a great day.  These two years have gone by quite quickly in some ways...but in others I feel really blessed to be home with Tobi everyday and have truly enjoyed watching he change daily and become the little girl that she is.  She was cracking me up as everyone was leaving.  She made her rounds to everyone and by name wished them Good bye and used one of her classic lines "Thanks for coming" or "See you soon" or "Come again soon".  She didn't miss a person or a beat.  Tobi girl, you make me smile everyday! 

I have to admit that I did shed a tear or two when I kissed my one year old good night for the last time.  It's just one day...but somehow it still feels like a big change.  Happy Birthday - baby girl!