The party that wasn't....
Thank you Sara Lee, for the easy-make train cake!
Angry Birds Cake for Triston! Thank you, Uncle Tommy!
We had a slingshot and all!
The Birthday Boy! Our tradition since Triston's first -frosting noses!
Grayson and his train cake. It was daddy's idea to carve out the frieght cars and fill em up. We then filled them up w each boys' fav. Triston-gummie candies, Grayson-chocolate for Choco, and Caden-cheerios and M&Ms.
I bought these at the dollar spot at Target. Filled em up with train whistles, Thomas stickers, bag of microwave popcorn and mini paintbrush art kits. I had intended for the kids to have another special treat. Empty Ice cream cones filled with circus peanuts (remember that candy?!) and animal crackers. How cute that would have been to see them walking around a handy travel snack.
Balloons for the Caden-his fav!
As you can see, the bounce house we purchased (CHEAP on amazon and at least we knew where it had been) was a success!! Could you have imagined us sanitizing some rental? This way it is ours forever and since the "party" we have had it out 4 other times bc it is that easy to set up n take down).
I also had face painting and carnival game stations planned.
Thank you Sara Lee, for the easy-make train cake!
Angry Birds Cake for Triston! Thank you, Uncle Tommy!
We had a slingshot and all!
The Birthday Boy! Our tradition since Triston's first -frosting noses!
Grayson and his train cake. It was daddy's idea to carve out the frieght cars and fill em up. We then filled them up w each boys' fav. Triston-gummie candies, Grayson-chocolate for Choco, and Caden-cheerios and M&Ms.
I bought these at the dollar spot at Target. Filled em up with train whistles, Thomas stickers, bag of microwave popcorn and mini paintbrush art kits. I had intended for the kids to have another special treat. Empty Ice cream cones filled with circus peanuts (remember that candy?!) and animal crackers. How cute that would have been to see them walking around a handy travel snack.
Balloons for the Caden-his fav!
As you can see, the bounce house we purchased (CHEAP on amazon and at least we knew where it had been) was a success!! Could you have imagined us sanitizing some rental? This way it is ours forever and since the "party" we have had it out 4 other times bc it is that easy to set up n take down).
I also had face painting and carnival game stations planned.Why did it not all occur?! DAMN FLOOD! The party was scheduled for July 23rd. I was so excited. The kids were excited. We had a whole yr to celebrate. Caden turning one. Grayson's diagnosis anniversary. Triston heading off to Kindergarten and surviving a topsy turvy kinda yr.
I went to bed the evening prior hoping the power would turn back on at least by 11 am before guests arrived. I had no idea I had to worry about water. We have never had any kind of seapage or flooding. It never crossed my mind this is what we would wake to. Charito walked down to the basement to check email that morning and water squished between his toes. The entire carpet in the basement was soaked. The laundry room and furnace room had puddles of water. We just looked at each other like YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!
Needless to say, we had no idea how much work we had ahead of us and cancelled the party. We had to get that carpet out fast. Bleach what could be saved fast. Toss anything that could make G sick fast. Before we knew it we had friends and family showing up to help without us even asking. We are so blessed! We had all the necessary work done by 4 pm.
While the men tore up carpet, I disinfected and tossed. Oh my the amount of toys and games was nauseating. Games and supplies I had bought for the party resting at the bottom of the stairs drenched.
To top it off I couldn't cancel any of the catered food. I ordered from 3 different places-Filipino, Italiand and fried chicken. It was all to arrive as planned. As frustrating as it was, I looked at it this way-at least I could feed my clean up crew. But I can't begin to tell you how much I had leftover. Luckily people were not turning down doggy bags and my freezer was hungry. We are still working on the leftovers!
The saddest part of this day was my own disappointment. Here I had the energy and healthy-enough Grayson to provide our boys a party they deserved and it was not what I had portrayed it to be. Now believe me, it was not going to be the lush type of party you see Tori Spelling creating for her kids but I had a vision. A Circus Train theme with all the boys' favs. The theme took no thought. Charito and I joke too often that our life feels like a circus. The thought, planning and details I put into it were awesome. I was impressed with myself. I actually did not cry over the whole thing til days later.
But in the big picture and even the day of, Charito and I just shrugged the water damage off. We got into clean up mode and pressed on. We knew what needed to be done to keep the house safe from respiratory issues. And with the addition of friends and family to our rescue (as always!) it made it all a little more tolerable. And gave us time to spend an entire day together catching up. As the women entertained my children I knew how lucky we were. There was no standing water. The carpet acted as an expensive sponge. Yeah we lost bags and bags full of electronics, games, toys, puzzles, etc but not our home. This was not like those families who suffered in Joplin. WE were lucky. SOOOO, the party actually did happen in a sense. I fed my clean up crew of 14 versus 50. We ate 3 cakes (more so for the kids and to make room in my fridge for the leftovers). We blew up the bounce house and let the kids enjoy the day. As far as my kids knew THIS WAS the party I had planned. The number of heads in our yard doesnt matter to them. There was a cake and a surprise bounce house! One cake for each of them! I gave favor buckets to the few kids who tagged along for the cleanup. I have tons leftover. A reminder of what could have been. It would have been nice to see some of my family but the fact was most of them were unable to attend anyway. I know we are in their hearts either way. It would have been nice to see some of Charito's family but I know they are always thinking of us. We have many thinking of us, celebrating this year we have had. I know that. Thank you everyone for all you do. Here's to another year (and maybe a lush party next year)!
