Thank you, Lady in Red...

Ladybug's birthday party was today...and it was just going to be us. Her grandparents had bailed, her day care friends had already sang happy birthday, and I hadn't invited a whole lot of other people--just Lady in Red and her two wonderful boys.

We were prepared for it just to be us...we felt a little silly dragging out the tablecloth and the fancy plates and all the paraphernalia to the picnic table, until Ladybug herself came out, saw the tablecloth, clapped her hands and said 'La la la!' (That's the Little Mermaid, to those who don't speak toddler.)

Suddenly all of the effort of hauling a picnic out to the park for just the six of us didn't seem that bad.

And then the Lady In Red showed up, and it seemed perfect. Cave Troll had someone to play with, someone else got to eat strawberry shortcake, the party favors got to go to kids who would like them...it really was a party, complete with two REALLY BIG BAGS OF GIFTS that she got to open.

Because Mate and I are complete dorks, we have no pictures with us this time... we will have to carry the mental picture of Ladybug, with her new pink panda backpack on her back, carrying her new La La La doll in her arms (she does have an affinity for blue-eyed red-heads) and the ribbons from her present in her hair. She is wearing a pretty pretty party dress (turquoise) with green socks, pink-heart shoes, and a turquoise jacket, because it was a wee bit cold in the wind.

She is smiling with all her teeth, and she will never let go of that doll, not even in sleep, which is what she is doing now, on the couch, after having fallen asleep on the way home.

She is two, and she had party guests, and we, her family, were there. Sometimes, it's the best you can do, and sometimes, it's more than enough.

Thank you, Lady in Red, for showing up and making it a party.

Thank Goddess, for my sweet little girl:-)

Tomorrow we go back to school, and this sweet, quiet two weeks of me and my babies will be over. But it's been lovely--I'll be glad to see my students again (don't laugh--I shit you not!!!) but it will be hard to know that I won't be spending the day with my little ones, making me laugh, making me yell, making me crazy--making me remember that I'm really a mother first, and then a teacher and a writer and a knitter...

I'll totally miss them:-)