A Play Date Saves the Day!

This morning, Lucy didn't get up until 9:30.  She almost never asks to go out to the pool but this morning she did.  Lots and lots of times.  I kept telling her no though because we had a play date scheduled for 12:00 and we were going to have to leave at 11:30, which means that we had to start getting ready to go somewhere around 10:00.  Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but considering I looked for Imma's shoes for 20 minutes and still never found them, if we are going to be on time, we have to forgo anything that may take an unpredictable amount of time, like swimming.
So, I ignored the whiny pleas from my little princess and told her no, we are going to Old MacDonald's (Imma speak for McDonald's) about 28 times.  We were sitting on the couch working on abcmouse.com when I heard a strange sound from the backyard. I ran to the window and got there just in time to see our brand new patio table shatter into a million gazillion pieces.  It's a little breezy here today and the umbrella was up, so I'm guessing it caught it just right and slammed it down on the glass.  I had no idea that could happen!  If we had been outside, the girls would have been in the pool right next to the table and I would have been sitting at the table.  Thank God we weren't out there and no one got hurt.
Of course, I'm not particularly happy that the table is destroyed and I'm hoping that the manufacturer or Lowe's or someone will at least replace it.  I know they make those stabilizer pieces for the bottom of the umbrella and we didn't have one on. Apparently, we needed one. I just thought that, if the directions said the  table could hold that size umbrella, it didn't mean with pieces you had to buy separately.  I don't really want another glass table after this but I also don't want to walk away empty handed after we spent so much on this one.  The frame is just fine and I'm thinking about the possibilities of putting a piece of butchers-block or some nice wood in it instead but I have no idea if I could do that or not.  I work with fabric and scissors, not wood and saws.  Anyone have any ideas?
When I went to clean it up, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The glass was almost all on the patio with very little in the grass so I was able to sweep most of it up.  There wan't any in the pool that I could see but I will definitely let Brian check that out before the girls get in it again. Imma stood by the back door the whole time I was working and asked me not to throw away the "ice" and begged to go into the pool, which I couldn't let her do.  At the end of the day, it's probably just a minor inconvenience, but it could have been a lot worse if we would have been outside or if the dogs would have been out there.
The girls did have fun with our friends at McDonald's.  I was so proud of how well Imma played with her friend and how well she was talking.  She explained that we went to the beach and then we had to go to the airport to come home.  She was using his name and played with him in the play area, which is great for her because she has so much trouble remembering everyone's name and usually prefers to play by herself.  Lucy was the only child dressed like a Disney Princess in the play area so it was easy to keep an eye on her. When you're child is dressed like Cinderella, it's pretty hard to lose track of her and you can just ask the other parents, "Does anyone know where Cinderella is?" No descriptions required.
Hopefully, we will get this little patio table thingy squared away and get it replaced before we have anyone over because it would be a lot easier to cook-out with a table in the backyard!

The shattered remains of the patio table

Who would have thought you could fit that whole table into one little trash can?

Play Date With a Classmate!

Today, Imma had a play date with a friend from her class. This is the first time anyone from her class has come over to play and we were so happy that her little friend and his brother were able to spend some time playing with the girls.  Little brother is about Lucy's age so the girls each had a friend their age to play with.
We spent a few minutes playing upstairs in the playroom. The boys came over in capes so Lucy put her cape on, too.  Imma put on her cowboy hat and rode around the room on her stick-horse.  The boys took turns driving around our toy car and Lucy had a good time flying down the slide. (Yes, we have a little slide in our play room!)
Then, we decided to go outside.  Everyone had fun swinging and going down the slide. Lucy's hair got crazy with static!  She looked like Medusa for a little while.  The only conflict we had was when little brother had a basketball Imma decided she needed.  Imma never plays with that ball but she thought she needed it because someone else had it.  Other than that, the rest of the play date went very well.  Imma didn't always play with the other kids but she was in the vicinity and did talk to them and occasionally went over to play with them.  She also played ball with them for a little bit, too.

I just had to take a pic of Lucy's crazy hair!

Static everywhere!

I'm so glad Imma is starting to make real friends with her classmates and develop some relationships that will, hopefully, last for years to come.  We plan on living here for the rest of eternity so the girls will have most of the same classmates all the way through school.  We are really hoping to get to know more families and put down some roots here.  The family that came over today is wonderful--sweet kids, very nice, friendly parents.  We're very happy that Imma is in the same class as this little gentleman. He does such a good job of taking care of her.  He's extremely polite, he always asks her if she needs anything or if he can help her, and he is one of the students Imma insists on hugging good-bye at the end of the day.  We can't wait until our next play date!

Lunch with Friends at Chicken-Hamburger!

Yesterday we had lunch with one of my bestest friends and two of Lucy's boyfriends at what Imma calls, "Chicken-Hamburger" a.k.a. Chick-fil-a.  Unfortunately, I took no pictures!  So, I will have to make due with a picture of Lucy and her boyfriends at their first birthday party, which is a year and a half ago but better than nothing!

Lucy with Will and Jack at their 1st birthday party. She was not happy!

Will and Jack are two of the sweetest, most incredible, literally miraculous Big Boys! (I almost said babies but they are not that any more) that I have ever had the opportunity to know.  When they were born they were teeny tiny and there were thousands of people praying for them and their family.  They have an incredible story and incredible parents.  You can read all about them on my sweet friend Alyson's blog here .
I used to share a classroom with Alyson and her mom and another wonderful teacher (or two, who's counting!) and I really miss her now that we live about an hour away from each other.  It was great to see them even though we didn't get to talk as much as we would like with four little people running around like, well, little people.  Nevertheless, we all had a really great time and I hope we can do it again soon.
It's nice to see other two-year-olds about Lucy's age and see that they are all doing the same things. Lucy's personality is such that she is always going to be a little different, she was a little more, uhm, "diva-ish" than the boys, but that could just be a girl thing, too.  She was crawling around in the play room but was having difficulty getting up the steps so she would ask a bigger boy for help.  Damsel in distress!  She's say, "Hewp!" and a five or six year old boy would help her every time! "Thank you!" Will and Jack were very industrious and were able to get themselves up the steps even though they aren't much taller than Lu.  They figured out a way to use the side of the steps to push up.  So smart!
Imma was running around, trying to talk to other kids, but mostly acting like a dog.  She has been Imma-Dog for the last few months.  Whatever makes her happy!  She enjoyed her chicken and most of her french fries and then just got up and went into the play area without asking, "Uhm, hello? Can you at least tell your mommy where you are going?"  No, no she cannot.
We then traded our toys (which were books, again) from the kid meals in for ice cream.  Did y'all know you can do that?  Yep, toy for ice cream = awesome.  We smeared some ice cream on our faces and maybe ate a little and then headed home for what I was sure was going to be a long nap--except Lu was so exhausted she couldn't and didn't sleep. Imma doesn't take a nap any more so she just rode her bike around the living room and screamed, "Bicycle, bicycle!'  Maybe that's why Lu didn't sleep!
We had a great time and it made me realize we need to have more play dates! I love seeing my little girls play with their friends and with no cousins and no neighbors it just doesn't happen enough. But maybe at a house next time so it isn't as crazy!  Who's in?  Your house or ours?  I'll make the chicken-hamburgers!
For those of you who love contests but don't follow my other blog, I am doing a giveaway on the Glitter and Tulle Boutique blog this weekend.  Please check it out!
I am also going to try to make my own Rhinestone transfer templates this weekend, which means I will literally be able to custom make any bling you could possibly want! Names, characters, whatever.  I'll let you know how it goes.
Have a lovely weekend!!