Sunday was a busy day! Unfortunately, our little girl was still running at 102 degree fever, so she wasn't feeling so hot. She took a long nap in the morning, and seemed to have broken the fever by lunchtime, but I didn't take any chances. She got another dose of Tylenol to keep any fever at bay for the baptism.
My dad dropped by with the most awesomely awesome Strawberry Shortcake from Graul's Market (did I mention it was awesome??), and I got the shrimp hors devours ready. Because the weather looked a little too flakey, I decided to setup the tables and chairs in the garage even though everyone would totally roast in there, but I didn't want to take the chance of it raining on the party. DJ helped me pull the cars out into the driveway and set up the tables and chairs. He was such a good helper... by just sitting in the front seat of Daddy's car and watching me with interest. When we got back inside, DJ helped Daddy clean the basement while I got a shower and baked the spanakopita. By then, my sister, Sophia and Spiro had arrived.
With an hour to go before we needed to leave, I fed the kids lunch while Spiro and Sophia entertained them, and my sister decorated the tables and brought in her monster cooler full of yummy food... fruit salad (yummy yummy), spanakopita, and desserts. Meanwhile, Steve got his shower, I got DJ dressed, my sister got Elektra dressed, and the spanakopita came out of the oven to cool. I finished getting dressed, and we hopped in the car after grabbing a couple of Red Bulls to go to church.
The service started in the back of the church. Elektra's godparents - Steve Schramm, Alexandra, and Sophia - did great. Sophia was beaming the whole time. Elektra was awesome, checking out the world, fish-flopping herself between Steve and me, and trying to chew on Father Dean's cross. DJ, meanwhile, had planted himself on Sonny's lap, and my brother was taking pictures.
When we got to the front of the church, it was time for the dunking. Elektra was NOT happy about this... between the holy oil on her and being dunked (only up to her chest!), she wailed. Once she was dressed (she looked so cute!!), had found her thumb and had Bunny in her hands, she stopped crying. Spiro, Eleni, Desi and Christian were our candle holders for the procession around the font, and then it was time for communion. We had to pop Elektra's thumb out of her mouth, but she didn't fuss at all when it came time to have communion. She did great with that. Finally, we were finished, and I held Elektra in the reception line. She got lots of kisses and love from everyone, and the comment, "You're no longer a heathen!" from Basil. Nice. lol But Elektra was so beat that she fell asleep in my arms while we were standing in the reception line. I passed her to Steve, and he sat down with her so she could nap. It's not often she sleeps on one of us now so he took advantage of that opportunity!
On the car ride home, the kids were wide awake... not even one thought of a nap from either of them. There went the nap-when-they-get-home plan. Thankfully, the kids were entertained by my mother-in-law and others so that I could get out the hors devours. My cousin Elena and her kids (Desi and Christian) helped out tremendously. With hors devours and drinks on the table, the party could finally get started.
Andy Nelson's BBQ arrived shortly thereafter, and I had them set up in the garage as well. They were setup in no time at all, and dinner was served! Turkey Q, Beef Brisket, corn bread, potatoes, and slaw. Yummy! Unfortunately, the potatoes weren't cooked all the way through, so we tried to finish them in our oven and microwave.
Meanwhile, the kids FINALLY allowed themselves to nap, and we let them sleep for about half an hour to 45 minutes.
Around 6pm, my sister, who was working way too hard in my kitchen, set out desserts. The awesomely awesome Strawberry Shortcake from Graul's and some other treats were out alongside a metric ton of Greek sweets that Miss Karas - bless her heart - made from my father's mother's recipes ("so that she could be here in spirit").
Dessert was in fully swing when... KABOOM. Here comes the rain, and not just any rain... this had potential for hail. DJ was stressed out from the thunder, but couldn't tear himself away from the window because he wanted to watch the storm. I was gleeful that I had made the right call to set up the tables in the garage... until the power went out.
Oh no.
But wait!! The power came back!! YEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!
But wait.... it's out again, and this time for good.
Oooooh ****.
The lack of lights was no problem. All the food had been served, we had plenty of ice in the cooler and plenty of drinks. I had a fluorescent bulb flashlight going so we had plenty of light in the kitchen. No, the problem was the lack of water. Well water + no electricity = no water. No washing hands, no flushing, no nothing. I'd had a contingency plan for everything but that. It would figure.
Oh well, nothing I can do about it but open the windows....and hope that no one has to pee (yeah right). We got word that trees were down everywhere and that a barn down the road was on fire. Yep, our power was going to be out awhile. Wondered if I'd get a shower Monday morning....
We put both kids to bed at this point, knowing they were totally exhausted. Eleanor and Sonny knew they'd have their hands full the next day with 2 sets of overtired children, especially since baby Evan was baptized the same day.
People started trickling out and by 8:15, most everyone had left. We started to put down the garage doors manually and then on came the electricity. Well check that out! Of course, this also meant that the overhead lights turned on in the kids rooms, so DJ was awake and wanted to go play. Sorry, DJ, it's ni-ta-ta time. Elektra, thankfully, slept through it.
I cleaned the house, opened gifts, and the day ended peacefully, with both kids out like the lights were earlier in the evening.
I'll post pics when I get them off of my brother's camera....
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