My little buddy, Addie

I am so behind on writing about my weekend.  I can't seem to find the time, or make enough time.  True writers get up early, they devote themselves to this great craft called "writing."  Luckily, my career path is to just read people's writings and make them available in a library, so I think I'm pretty much at home with my amateur blogging status of a couple of times a week.  But, oh how I respect those who commit to the daily grind.  But all of that is just my way of explaining why I don't always have new material.  Sometimes it's because I have nothing to say, and sometimes it's because I don't have the right picture to aptly explain the blogging moment.

Today though, I have a sweet picture of my two-year-old friend Addie.  Her birthday party is one of the  many events we went to this weekend.  It was a toddler party done well.  Her mom did great job with her theme: Minnie Mouse ears,  Minnie mouse cupcakes,  good snacks and it was at the Little Gym so she didn't even have to clean her house.  What a brilliant idea it was to start holding parties outside the home.  Was it maybe in the 70's when that idea took off?  I can only recall Showbiz Pizza and McDonald's allowing birthday parties, but now every imaginable place has a party room.  I suppose there is a little part of me who misses those non-fuss, non-themed ice cream and cake kitchen parties with a room full of streamers and balloons and some pin the tail on the donkey for entertainment, but it's certainly a sign of the times that we busy mom's take advantage and pay some young teenage employee to run our party and clean up our mess.

Oh, my tangents.  They are everywhere.  So back to Addie.  She's a little girl after my own heart.  Because our families do so much together, we get to see both Addie and her sister Ella a lot.  And while Ella will scamper off with my girls, Addie is my little buddy.  Most kids know me as Elijah or Lydia or Lanie's mom who is always telling us no, or not to scream so loud, or to close that back door, or I'm that one VBS teacher or that one lady who reads to us sometimes in the library. I'm pretty much a non-character for these preschool and elementary kids.  Most of my kid's friends who come over aren't really looking to sit down at the kitchen table and talk about their day with me.  I'm waiting for that age though because while some parents are "always a kid at heart" and like to play dodgeball, I'm relational and like to ask questions.  Maybe down the road, one of their friends will just love coming over because talking to Lydia's mom is soooo interesting.  Doubt it.  But I can hope.

Again, back to Addie. She is the one little person who Will actually hang out with me. And while she can be a pill to her parents, her ornery and busy behavior is endearing to me.  Besides my 3 kids, there is finally a little one who I can pick up and who doesn't scream like mad to go back to her mom. She'll take my hand and give me a silly smile.  I love it.  I know, it doesn't take much for me.  So for dear little Addie, we wish you a Happy Birthday and for your parents, a less stressful 2nd year.

A lot of Minnie's and one Mickey, post party