Monday, September 15, 2008

"My Birthday goes on forever and ever, Mom!"

The pink princess party for Alayna's birthday was a success, with princess balloons, a princess table cloth, a princess cake, princess napkins, pink plates, plastic gemstone rings and a few presents. Alayna was delighted ... and so were we all. All that pink helped counteract the pouring rain outside, too.

On Sunday, Alayna and I went for a nice hourlong walk in the morning while it was still dry out. Then my Mom came over to play for a while so I could finish painting Alayna's new big-girl room. Paul took the windows out to sandblast them so we could get rid of the peeling paint (and eliminate worries about lead). We ought to get it all put together by the end of the week.

About 7, while Paul was giving Alayna a bath, it stormed some more and a tree fell on the transformer on the street next to our house. The power crackled going on and off three or four times quickly before dying for good. Paul thought I'd electricuted myself and yelled down: "Katie, what are you doing!?!"

Luckily, it wasn't my fault and our hose seemed to be fine. We pulled out the headlamps and flashlights before it got too dark and Paul bought some ice to keep the milk and OJ cold. The power came back on at 3.

Then this morning, there was a three-car pile up right in front of our house just before Paul turned his car on to go to work. Snowy barked for most of the half hour that the cars were in our driveway with the police. ay ay ay. Alayna slept through the whole thing.

When we got to Cheryl's, Alayna and I found that the kids had decorated the house with a big sign that said "Happy Birthday Alayna." Joey made origami cranes and hung them from the ceiling. This afternoon, after lunch, Cheryl and Alayna planned to make brownies. Then the kids have skits and a treasure hunt planned for Alayna when they get home from school.

Alayna was ecstatic. "My birthday goes on forever and ever, Mom!"

I feel very fortunate to have such a loving, safe and flexible place for Alayna.

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