Jenna was my helper yesterday (of course, don't know what I'd do without her); we picked up the cake, ice cream, and balloons, and went to the ballpark to decorate before Jeremy brought Jared, Julia, and Faith (who spent the night) to the party. It was not the pretty day I envisioned; it was cool/cold and windy - Jenna and I tried to wrangle table covers but in the end we only got one on and one that I wrapped and tied around the center of a table. The other two tables we gave up. It was even colder under the shelter so I pulled one table out into the sun. The cake and cupcakes looked awesome. My usual girl at Hy-Vee (Denita) made them. We had treat bags for the kids with a practice ball, Cracker Jax, and "Big League Chew" (gum) plus white beaded necklaces for the girls (to represent baseballs). I also had a centerpiece vase filled with baseballs and our old wooden bat that I had everyone "autograph." The kids got to play some ball on one of the fields. Mostly the older kids did that (Jared, Jenna, Jake, Clay) while the younger set (Julia, Sophia, Faith, Hope, Hank, Andi) preferred the playground. Julia and Sophia did bat awhile after Julia opened her new helmet and bat (we also got her a softball gear bag, socks, and a softball plus a book about a dog playing baseball and the DVD A League of Their Own - she watched that on TV once and loved it). We were also going to let the older kids do the batting cages but turned out you had to have cash so that didn't work out. Julia had a great time; she told me afterwards that she loved her party, so although I was feeling like everything hadn't come together like I'd hoped, all that matters is that in her eyes, it was perfect.
Julia received a lot of wonderful gifts. A Tinkerbell guitar, sprinkler, a LeapPad, some books and movies (she makes mom watch New Year's Eve with her constantly so mom got her that and she was THRILLED), money (most of which will go into her savings account), and a lot of very cute clothes. Gene and Kelley made it (Gene is still recovering from surgery but doing pretty well), Gramps and Gigi, Uncle Derek, Aunt Steph & kids, the Vices, Julia's BFF Sophia Maag, Grandma Bea, Pat & Parker, and Pam. Aunt Missy and Aunt Tiffy had sent gifts for Julia and were with us in spirit!
Here are some pictures; I hope to add a couple more later:
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| Lil Slugger |
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| Running to the field to test out her new gear! (I love their shadows). |
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| Sophia, Julia, and Faith |
After the party we went home so I could get everything unloaded and put away (Julia went to Gigi's with her and Grandpa). Then a couple hours later we met up and all went to La Fuente's for Mother's Day dinner.
Tiffy and Melissa had sent Mom gifts plus I had one for her, so we surprised her with all of those at dinner. I gave her a ticket to the girls' dance recital and a gift certificate for a shampoo and style; turns out we got lucky with the recital - it is June 1 and she leaves on June 2 for a FL vacation with Tiffy and DD!
This week is going to be a busy one. Tonight both girls have dance, Jenna has softball practice, Jared has a percussion solo for band, and I need to make cupcakes for Julia to take to school. Tomorrow is Julia's actual birthday (which turns out to be a non-uniform day; she will get to pick one of her new outfits to wear to school) and she has her first-ever softball game, plus we'll do cake at home for her. It was so windy at the party that we couldn't even get the candles to light, so we will be sure she gets to blow the candles out on her actual birthday. Thursday the girls have a choir party after school and will be giving their final performance this year at the MI 8th grade graduation on Friday. Saturday is full of activities. It's Opening Day, Julia has a game (no schedule yet for Jenna so I don't know when her games will start), Jenna has a birthday party to go to, plus we were invited to our friends' son's graduation party (Magers). I also want to take the girls to the KHS production of Cinderella that night. We'll have to see if we can get everything done. My mom and Dad are leaving tomorrow to visit Chattanooga; Dad wants to see some of the Civil War sites, so they will be gone all week. Next Thursday will be the last week of school, and then Sam starts babysitting the following Tuesday after Memorial Day. Summer is nearing and maybe eventually the weather will even out. This month we've seen snow, 30 degree temps and 80 degree temps, plus rain in between; sometimes even a 30-degree difference in one day!
One last thing; I don't know if I've mentioned the email I got last week from Betty at Mary Immaculate. Julia had given her a note she had written herself, instructing that she should go home with Sophia. Betty knew it was Julia's handwriting of course, but just wanted to make sure that she wasn't really supposed to go home with Sophia. I told her that she wasn't; I knew nothing about it. Later that night I told Julia she couldn't be doing things like that but I don't think I really got through to her because not much later she was asking me how I make my "signature." Betty sent the note home to me because she thought I'd get a kick out of it, which of course I did ;-)
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