How Sweet It Is

How many times have you said to yourself, "I wish I had...",

"That would have been so neat!", or "If only I had the time"?

I have been planning Bella's first Birthday Bash for weeks knowing that there would be issues with time not only for me but also for the participants.

This was one celebration, silly as it was, that I didn't want to let go by - Bella would only be one once and even though she could care less about a party (let's face it every day is a party for Bella) I didn't want to let the day go by without making her feel special.

So I put down my stamps, turned off the computer, closed my eyes to the dusty furniture, heavily weed hewn gardens and found my favorite sugar cookie recipe to bake some tasty treats for all Bella's "people" friends.

Once the guests arrived, we were going to play games of chase the puppy, fetch, frisbee, ball, and of course the inevitable " catch me if you can" and then off to Dairy Bar, our favorite outdoor ice cream stand for a vanilla cone....it would be Bella's first taste of this frozen treat!

102 cookies later, heavy rainstorms flooded the streets that kept our original guests away, the muddy puddles in the backyard were so deep they were quickly inhabited by Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and their brood along with the fact that Bella had came down with an upset tummy - too much excitement I suppose.

Still we had her party it just didn't go the way we had originally planned. She shared her birthday cookies and goodie bags with all our neighbors and their children at our annual block party later that evening when the skies cleared. Bella spent the night running, chasing and playing with children of various ages. The kids on the street sang "Happy birthday to Bella "and one little girl even made her a birthday card.

We never got to the Dairy Bar for her first ice cream treat but I don't think she minded since she fell asleep in my lap with a soft smile on her face later that night. When the flood waters receded, her brothers and sisters came by the next day to celebrate with a game of chase in the backyard a good belly rub. She thanked them with warm licks and kisses to which we all said "Oooooooh".

It was a perfectly sweet 1st Birthday Bash regardless as both Bella and I got exactly what we have always wanted - each other. Life doesn't get any sweeter than that.

Here's a little advice from Bella Boo "Have a cookie and celebrate the ones you love, you never know when the weather will change and you sure don't want to miss the rainbows!"

Laura Anne and Bella Boo