Trick or Treat

It wasn't even dark when the little woman finished getting ready and out the door she went.  Well that made the little man completely change his plans.  He did not want to wait and have his makeup put on to be a vampire.  So he was a skeleton and he chased out after her. 
My understanding is she did not let him go with her but he did follow her part of the time.  And part of the time he followed Nathan.  And part of the time he went by himself.  Came back after an hour and a half with a bag full of candy. 
At some point the little woman returned briefly home with Maggie in tow and then she went out with Maggie.  She was gone for over two hours and had a full bag of candy and hurt feet when she got back.  They had a good time.
I was left to man the door with the candy.  They had used our treat bowl for playing store and there was granola bars, panda cookies and mini nilla wafers in it as well as our candy.  I was hugely amused how all the non candy items completely disappeared before half an hour was up.  We were left with half a bowl of chocolate.  Going to have to pass some of that off to Mom. 

Quick

The dog needed her toenails clipped.  Really bad.  She didn't let me know in her usual way.  She happened to be laying on her back and I noticed her back nails.  So today was the first free morning sans kids and the vet was open. 
After the kids got on the bus I rounded up the dog.  We went to the vet and there were only two people waiting and they were checked in.  Someone helped me pretty quickly.  She asked if I wanted to pay first and I'm like ohhhh yeaaahhh.  Paying seems to be the thing that takes the longest at the vet.  I have never been offered that in all the times I have brought her in for nails.  So yes, I paid first. 
The tech came and got her and a few minutes later brought her back.  The dog almost pranced to the car.  Her back feet must have felt so much better and I was happy that we were in and out in like ten minutes. 
I'm sure it will never happen again, but I will take it for today.

Papa's Day

Dave's birthday is today.  He was born 62 years ago.  I would have made a cake, but we are still working on that lovely pumpkin cake that the little woman picked for her birthday.  

We talked about Papa and his age.  It was a day for remembering.  

So I see him every where.  There are a lot of men around here who have the same build, the same color of hair, the same beard.....Now granted he did not have the beard when he died, but he had it for several years before that.  It's always kind of weird to see these guys who look like him and remind me of him so much.  

Light and love Dave.  

Chuck E Cheese

And a grand time was had by all.  They all used up their play cards and it timed out just about right.  They ate pizza and cake.  The little woman opened her gifts and was ecstatic.  She got razor wheels from her brother, lost kitties and a cat hoodie from Daddy, money from Mommy, a fingerling, a jellie thing that is really cool and an assortment of girlie potions.  I gave her LPS and a pomsie.  She gets the rest of my gift when we do the family thing. 
I'm sure she would say the best part was the ticket blaster which is where you get in the tube and the tickets fly all over and you try to catch them.  Hard to catch and hold.  She ended up giving most of her tickets to her brother.  I'm not sure if it was just sharing or if he coerced her. 
She had three guests this year.  Only one didn't come of those invited.  So I call that a huge success.  I got to spend some time with Emily's grandmother.  She babysits Emily a lot so we had a lot to talk about. 
I can remember doing Chuck E Cheese back in the day and swearing to never do it again.  Well they have come a long ways since then.  I love the ease of a party there.  No work, no muss, no cleanup.  It was just lovely. 

Pumpkins

The little man carved his pumpkins today.  He made a plan while I scooped out the seeds for roasting later.  Then we had to go to the store to get new carvers/  The ones I used to have must have gotten tossed as they were probably pretty bent. 
Came back and he carved his two pumpkins.  One of like Hector from Coco and the other is just a mean pumpkin.  We will light them up tonight to see how they look. 
I was amazed at his skill and his initiative to do his work.  The little woman on the other hand did do a drawing but she did  not like how I transferred it to the pumpkin.  At that point she refused to carve.  Her pumpkin will sit on the counter till tomorrow and then if she still won't do it, I will.

Fun

The little woman was invited to a Halloween party at her friend Emily's house.  So after dropping Uncle Pat at the airport and making a quick stop at Scented Acres to grab a pumpkin, we dropped her off.  Then we had to quickly go home because the little man decided he knew best and that he did not need shoes at Scented Acres.  Well no, no he didn't.  But he did need clean socks for bowling and the socks he was wearing then had mud and some chicken poop on them. 
We left the pumpkins at home and we gave them a quick bath.  Grabbed new clean socks and headed to Tiger Bowl.  We bowled two games.  He loved it.  He started off using the aimer but decided he did not want to do that.  Maybe we should have used the bumpers, but we did not.  So we just rolled balls.  And had fun.  The score was important to him but not over the top so.  Bowling is not something he is just naturally good at. 
So the plan is to go bowling again before his birthday for some more practice.  He wants to have his birthday party at the bowling ally.  Good plan little man.
And today we had fun.  And the pumpkins got dry so maybe tomorrow we carve them and roast some seeds. 

A Haunting

I took the littles to their very first haunting.  A family up off Mill Plain did up their yard with spooky things and a maze. They did a fabulous job for just being in the yard.  I heard one of the guys telling other people how he has worked for 15 years at pay to enter haunted houses. 
The little woman was not scared a bit.  The little man was in too much of a hurry to be scared or maybe he was scared and just wanted to hurry through it.  There wasn't really anything too spooky. 
One little story...the littles got ahead of me and in between us one of the workers came out of the shadows and followed them.  Now he did not scare them and I did not scare him, but it was an exact repeat of another haunted house I have done.  And that one I did scare the scarer because he wasn't aware of me being behind him.  This time the man must have at least been aware of me. 
Now they can say they have been to a haunting. I'm amazed at how much effort this family put into this.  I think next year the little woman will be old enough to go to a theatrical one, but the little man will have to do something else. 

Fall Festival

And the year keeps rolling by.  The school had their fall festival tonight.  I managed to get one kid to eat some dinner there.  They had pizza.  The kids got to dress up in their Halloween costumes.  The little man looked pretty cute as a vampire and the little woman looked fabulous as a devil.  Josie, from our street, was an angel.  So her dad took a picture of each girl looking over his shoulder.  Bet that is a cute picture.
They played games and won tokens, traded tokens for prizes and visited with their friends.  Every one was well behaved and are now settled in and quiet.  A good night was had by all. 

Birthday Wishes

We rushed home so we would be there when Chad arrived.  We beat him by about five minutes.  He brought balloons, cards, and candy.  Inside each card was a nice gift card for the littles to pick out their own gift and Chad hinted a bit that part of the card should buy some clothes.  He understands how fast kids grow and are always needing clothing. 
We had a nice visit with him.  I told him how much we appreciated him, Ky and Gina in our lives.  Next time it is our turn to make a trip up there to see them. 

A Happy Heart

When we got home I had a message from Chad.  He is coming down tomorrow to deliver some signs.  While here he wants to see us and give the littles their birthday presents.  How special is that?  And I don't mean that sarcastically. 
He goes out of his way to remember when their birthdays are and to give them gifts.  Basically the only one of their extended family that does.  And he isn't really related to them, although his son is.  I know that family is really important to Chad.  The connections were important to me at one time also, but after so much effort that wasn't in any way reciprocated...I quit.  Except for Chad, Gina and Ky. 
So my heart is happy that he is going out of his way to connect with the littles.  Our circle is so small and it helps having them in our lives. 

Family Dinner

We all went to Pat's house for burritos last night.  They were delicious.  We had a dutch apple pie for dessert.  Was suppose to be apple crisp, but my apples had a big mishap.
For a bit of time I had my mom.  We talked about some current things in my life and she told me I needed to cut my hair.  Great minds think alike.  That was the only advice she offered.  She just listened and asked the right questions and made the right comments.  It was nice having her when it seems like she has been hiding a lot lately.  That made my heart happy. 
The little man was ungrounded from the game at Pat's house so they played after dinner.  Two weeks is a long time, but he didn't complain at all.  Maybe it helps not living at Pat's house and only seeing him on weekends anyway. 

Busy Busy

I woke up and realized we are going to have a couple of busy busy weeks.  First I'm back to work my normal weeks of four days.  They have school.  Then we have girl scouts on Wed with their Halloween party.  The little man has a field trip to the pumpkin patch on Thursday and then Thursday evening is the Fall Festival at school. 
We hit the weekend with the little woman really really wanting to go to a haunted cemetery.  Haven't quite decided on that as the little man is still only six.  Then we have her birthday and Halloween.  They have been working on their costumes and we will have pumpkins to carve. 
Hopefully  keeping us busy keeps us out of trouble. 

A Little Adventure Downtown

We took advantage of the lovely fall day and went downtown to check out the new Waterfront Park.  We had lunch at Warehouse 23.  I thought the prices were pretty reasonable. 
After lunch we walked along the waterfront so we could go out on the walk out over the river.  The littles got a kick out of it.  They also loved meeting all the dogs down there.  There was a place you could get down by the water if you were brave enough to traverse over the rocks.  Some of those rocks were wiggly.  Did not stop the little man at all.  The little woman was wearing her boots and they weren't as secure so she did not make it to the bottom. 
Once we had looked at everything and talked about the condos and apartments being built there, we made our way back to our car.  Moved it so we could go to the park at Esther Short Park.  Farmer's Market was still going on.  And the first thing we saw was mini pumpkin decorating for free.  So each little had to do that.  They held onto the mini pumpkins for us while we played.  They also gave kids boo bucks to spend at the market.  Just imagine how excited my littles were when they discovered those boo bucks could be used for cotton candy.  I got a bag of cranberries and big bag of apples.  Later it kind of struck me that those guys at that stand really did not charge me enough.  But we are going to enjoy those apples in a crisp tomorrow at Uncle Pat's house.  I also got a cat nip toy for Sunset, who LOVED it. 
It was a great adventure and every one was mostly behaved.  We never expect perfect behavior because that isn't ever going to happen.  Small mishaps we can handle. 

Tired

I worked a long day today.  Liz took the day off for a long birthday weekend.  Then the college suspended operations on Monday so she is having a nice long weekend.
I've noticed that the little man is falling asleep early every day this week.  Today is understandable since we had to get up so early.  Makes me wonder about the rest of the week though.  Seems he has been having some troubles at school and I think it just wears him out. 
Even though I was tired after work we still went and played wall ball and on the playground.  Switched it up and went to a different school.  Daybreak has a nice wall ball wall.  Some kids showed up and they all played groundies.  The little man was much better behaved today than he was yesterday. 

And It Ends

I had a nice string of days off.  I did not get much accomplished.  I did manage to buy some birthday presents for the little woman.  I was beginning to have my doubts though when she got sick.  But it all worked out.  Then I realized I had a bunch of stuff already stashed.  So some of that stuff will just move to Christmas presents. 
Tomorrow is a long day at work and then next week we start returns so I'm back to four days a week.  Yeehaw. 

No Picture

The little woman has a picture in her room of her and her mommy.  It is framed and a very nice picture.  So the little man wanted to know how come he doesn't have a picture like that but of him and Mommy.  So I told him I would look and see if I can find one.
Well I have just perused through a thousand pictures.  Thank goodness I don't have to go through all of the pictures.  Just vacation pictures mostly.  Mommy moved when the little man was working on two.  All of that and I can not find any pictures of just him and his mommy.  I got lots of the three and four of them.  I got lots of him with each of his sisters.  None like he wants.  And how sad does that make me?  Oy.
Maybe I should look at picture people.  But I don't remember there being pictures of Mommy with each kid.  Just a picture of the three of them. 
Wonder if I could create one.

Oy Again

I knew better and I should have known better.  So the little woman has a girl scout meeting this week and the parents are suppose to attend.  It is the parent meeting....fill out any additional paperwork and pay the troop dues.
So Becca had offered to take the kids if I ever needed a break.  So I thought perhaps I could utilize her to babysit the little man while I attended that meeting.  It was scheduled for the beginning of the month and it was all set.  Then the troop leader got sick and the meeting got postponed till this week.
So on the weekend I checked again with Becca to see if she would still be available.  A lot can happen in two weeks.  Nope, she was good.  All set.  I sent her a reminder this morning....just in case.  I hate finding out last minute when things are going to go sideways.  Well turns out she has a business meeting she forgot about and her girlfriend told her she had to be there.  All right then.
It really did not surprise me as nothing with Becca has ever worked out.  I think it is time to seriously not even try to plan anything with her.  And so it goes.
The troop leader told me I could just fill out the papers next time and pay the dues then.  Good thing they are so willing to work with me.

Two Weeks

We are down to two weeks till the little woman's birthday.  We found some really cute kitten cards and made them into invitations.  The little woman decided to invite four girls to the party.  Then she has a list of adults.  I don't have to pay for adults at Chuck E Cheese. 
We found a cute little offering for each girl who actually comes.  Something the little woman found and really liked.  So I am thinking most girls her age will like it.  Now here is hoping that some of them come.  It will be most disappointing and heart breaking if no one shows up.  The up side would be the little woman and the little man would gets lots of play points since I have to pay for four guests whether four show or not. 
The little woman gave me a better list of what she would like.  I explained multiple times how you don't get everything on the list.  It is just some ideas for me to use. 
Now we wait and see.  Two weeks and counting down. 

Wine

I like to drink a glass or two of wine on occasion.  I estimated that I drink about six bottles a year.  This year I am way lower than that.  I have had two and one of those actually got mostly consumed while camping.  I almost always take a bottle with camping and then it comes back home. 
When we went yurting at Grayland last month I did not bring a bottle with because I mostly don't ever drink it.  The little woman and I had stopped at that store and I thought I would just look and see if anything called to me.  Well they carried Wild Vines Strawberry Zinfandel.  I have not been able to find that flavor in months and months or if I do it is the BIG bottle which I just don't buy.  It is my favorite flavor beyond the orange one that is no longer even made.  Naturally I bought a bottle and drank most of it at the yurt. 
So I have been paying more attention at our local stores and no, not one of them is carrying that flavor.  Makes me think it is the same salesperson for all the local stores.  Because the flavor being sold is the same at every single one.  I know I am not the only person who drinks that flavor. 
My brother suggested I check out the big wine store and maybe I will just have to.  One of these days.  When the mood again strikes. In several months.  ;p

More Work

The littles worked for Uncle Pat again today.  Cleaning up the front porch.  Putting away camping stuff.  The little man was going up and down the stairs with coolers and totes.  I noticed that the little woman slacked off and let the little man do more of the work.  They didn't have to do as much work this weekend so they got paid less, but they were happy. 
The little woman invited Rebecca to her birthday party.  Guess we shall see if she shows up. 

A Formality

Let me set this up correctly.  Last week when we were going through our get worse before it gets better phase the little man had a blowup (not his biggest ever).  He had thrown a basketball at his sister and I took the ball away.  That was the switch that got flipped.  So he is mad at me and the anger had control.  He grabbed my hair and I can't pry his fingers off my hair.  So I stay attached to him to not lose hair.  Naturally the little woman then has a panic attack and runs.  She left the door open and went to one of the neighbors.
Lisa, the neighbor came back with the little woman and asked if I needed help.  Nope.  I don't.  This will pass like it always does.  Hopefully with my hair in tact (and if my hair gets threatened again I am getting it cut short). Three minutes later and it is done.  He has calmed down.  My glasses got broke when he laid on them.  Not intentional but it did happen in the heat of the moment.  It takes me awhile longer for the adrenaline to subside.
I walk down to pick up the little woman who had returned to the neighbor's house.  On the way I noticed that Lisa was talking to other neighbors.  Ones I just love because they are so caring.....but that is another story.  We make great gossip in our neighborhood.  Lisa realizes I am at her house and returns and I take the little woman home.
Now I have had a wee chat with Lisa before.  Because the little woman runs when she is in a panic and she has discovered it is a good coping mechanism (and she gets great attention).  I had told Lisa the little man was in counseling.  She told me about a dog rescue group.  I was always rather confused about that until this week.  And obviously Lisa did not believe me when I said we were working on the problem with counseling because she did not tell CPS that when she called them.
Jump to this week.  I came home from work on Monday to find a business card on my door and a voice mail on my phone.  A social worker was trying to get ahold of me.  I've been on this road before back in the day and CPS does not scare me.  I returned her call playing phone tag.  We finally connected and had a chat.  Talking with her I figured it had to be my loving neighbors who called because no one told the SW about the counseling.  As soon as I did she basically told me she needed to check that out and do a house check and then basically was closing the case.  A formality.  She had already talked to the kids at school.  The little woman had told her about the rolling pin and how I put myself between her and her brother and try to deflect him when I can.  If not I take the brunt of his anger.  I have said for a long time...the only one being abused in my house is me.  That doesn't mean that the little woman isn't affected though.
So yesterday was our house check day.  So she saw that the kids have their own rooms.  She saw that we have lots and lots of food in the house.  She saw the house is relatively clean...except the kids' rooms.  She read me the report that Lisa gave.  As soon as the SW started reading, I realized it was not who I thought it was that made the report (although I always expected one would come from Lisa as she is a mandatory reporter). We talked about the things in the report.  We talked about the kids and we talked about me.  Some hard question.....like how do I take care of myself?  What is the hardest thing about raising kids as a grandparent?  We talked about the dog and her scar.  And then it was time for her to go.  She said she would check in with the therapist and let me know if she ever got anymore reports.  And that was that.   I'm doing what I am suppose to be doing.
I may have gotten it wrong, but it seems Lisa made the report because I minimalized the incidents she was privy to.  I didn't open up and spill my heart out to her.  And why would I?  I've talked to Lisa basically three times, twice because of these incidents (and both times told her we were in counseling) and one time a year ago when she was calling other kids in the neighborhood terrible.  The whole situation is embarrassing enough by itself without having to have someone judge you who is already gossiping about you with the neighbors. 

Picnic at Kiwanis

The little man wanted to do something and he was hungry.  So we hit the McDonald's drive thru and took their happy meals to Kiwanis Park.  We had a picnic at the park and then they played and played.  Usually they spend the majority of their time on the tire swing.  Not today. 
They ended up with a group of kids and they were all over the park.  Playing follow the leader and duck, duck goose.  The little man joined a game of groundies going on on the play structure. 
When it was time to go and we were settled in the car I commented on them playing for an hour and a half.  He pops up with they got to play for 90 minutes.  They must already be working on time in first grade and he already has it. 

Hanging at the Playground

I relented and bought a new playground ball.  The little man requested a cool one, but we ended up with a blue one.  It was only $5.  Then we had to wait for a day when we could play and that day was today. 
So after school we headed back over to the school so we could play wall ball.  The little man is pretty good at it.  He kept wanted to make me play his way.  Didn't work.  I play my way.  And yes he is better than me because I don't run after the ball. 
The swings are always a draw for the little woman.  Their new thing is swinging high and then jumping off.  It is one place that she beats him....her swing before jumping is higher.  While we were there a bunch of football players arrived and they must have been early because they started a game of groundies.  Mine jumped right on that and play with the boys. 

"Small Foot"

The littles and I went and saw "Small Foot" tonight.  It was very cute.  It was very funny.  Both kids laughed many times.  It was Tightwad Tuesday which is about the only way we go to the theater anymore. 
I wasn't sure we were going to make it.  When I picked the littles up from daycare, the little man had a headache.  That usually means he is going to take a two to three hour nap on the couch.  But he did not.  He took a pill and felt well enough to go to the movie. 
Once home he started feeling crappy again.  Good thing it was time for bed.  They really enjoyed the movie. 

A Quieter Week

This week will be the quietest in awhile.  I only work a couple of days and the littles have school.  There are no other activities that we have to do.  So we have a plan for Tightwad Tuesday to go see "Little Foot".  We are going to hit up one of the schools later in the week and play wall ball.
My plan is to get some deep cleaning done while they are in school.  We will see.  Seems to depend if I can stay away from electronics.
And that is it.  Just a quiet week.  I'm ready.

Inside

All day long.  The little man did try to find someone to play with one trip around the block. No one was around.  So all day the littles played in the house and mostly all right together.  I watched some of my shows that are taped.  I folded a bunch of clothes.  We watched a couple of movies. 
It was really just a veg day at home in the quiet. 

Five Dollars

Each of the littles made $5 working for Uncle Pat today.  And I'm sure they earned it.  He had them picking up firewood from out of the yard (limbs he cut from the cherry tree) and then they moved to the backyard.  Pat did a bunch of trimming things up and they picked it up and put it in the yard waste bin.  Much easier for them to pick stuff up off the ground. 
Now one little is super happy and one doesn't really care.  So the one who is happy talks the other one into giving him her money.  I put the kibosh on that for the moment.  She just does not care at all about money. 

Tacos

Mom got to have second supper again tonight.  Pat invited all of us over for fish tacos.  He also made taco meat for normal tacos.  I haven't had tacos since I lived with Dave.  And they tasted pretty darn good.  I ate three.  The little man ate one and Mom had a fish taco.  Pat made those out of the mahi mahi he caught in Mexico. 
Mom was having a bad night.  She was happy to see me, but way out of sorts.  She kept asking Pat when he bought his place and she didn't really remember it used to be hers.  I have not figured out what year she thinks it is. 

Lots and Lots

It seems like there is a lot going on lately. 
The littles just finished up this session of swimming lessons.  They both passed onto the next level.  I watched the little woman swim.  Not graceful, but still swimming.  Grace will come with practice.  The little man just seems to take to whatever he decides to do. 
So after a four week break the little man is back seeing his counselor.  And none too soon.  I could just watch the regression happening.  So he saw her this week and now we are back to going through the it gets worse before it gets better stage.  Oy.  One day at a time. 
I turned the wifi off after an episode last week.  It is absolutely annoying to not have it when you want it.  I fibbed and said it was off at the cable company.  That seems to have appeased the begging for the wifi.  So if I accidentally reconnected on my phone I would be caught because eventually I would forget to shut it back off. 
We bought a web cam so we can have a video visit with Mike.  We scheduled one too soon.  Now we have one schedule for next week.  We will see how that goes and if it is enough for all the love they want to feel. 

Lunch

I took Mom out to lunch at Olive Garden.  Pat joined us.  I had invited him but I didn't expect him to show up.  And then he did.  So when he arrived he made mom move over so he could sit down.  She moved over a little bit.  He kind of got her to move a little further in the booth.
I was sitting across from her so I got to watch what happened in her head.  She did not know who he was at first.  You could see her trying to process this man making her move.  And she sat there for a few moments and then you could watch it change while something clicked in her brain.  And then she was at ease and leaned on him. 
I'm afraid we are going to see a lot more of this and not spread out.  She has been on this road for a long time and it has been a long slow road.  But it almost feels like the slow time is done.  Time will tell, but in the meantime we will do what we can and see her while we can.

Family? Dinner

On Saturday my brother cooked us up some more fish.  He does a really sweet job at that.  We brought Mom over even though she had already dined at her place.  There is always room for a little fish. 
Pat cooked up two big plates of rock fish and halibut.  Mom started eating as soon as the first plate was done.  I know she ate at least six pieces and maybe more.  The little man ate three big pieces.  We had chips and a pasta salad with it.  When we were done there were three pieces left over.  I cleaned up while the men went to play the computer game they have been playing.  I walked my leftovers out to the car. 
When I came back in Mom kept saying she was hungry and that she didn't get any fish.  Wait...what? Now you can't really argue with a dementia person.  I did comment on her fish and left it at that.  So then it was time to take her home.  She went down the hallway to say bye to the men and as she comes back she starts in with she feels completely left out because she didn't get to spend any time with her children. 
This set the tone for the drive home.  No big drama, just a running monologue of how she has never felt left out in her own family before this.  Oy.  She had been with me continually except when I ran a bag out to the car.  So I just kept quiet. 
Once back to her place I walked her to her room and I gave her a hug and told her that no one intentionally set out to make her feel bad and that all of this is hard.  She agreed.  And I went home.  Now part of the time she was talking to me she wasn't talking to me her daughter.  She was just talking to someone.  It's a weird phenomenon.
This week I had one of my visits and I stopped in and checked with the nurse for another matter.  I commented on family dinner.  And then he pops off with well she wasn't in the present.  She was somewhere in the past and the people she ate with are not her kids.  Oh yeah.  I get that.  I have read it.  It is just kind of weird to start experiencing it.  Because it isn't that the person forgets you.  It is just they go back in time and you don't look like that anymore depending on how far back they go.  And so the disease progresses. 

Growing, Changing

I've been noticing some changes lately.  Both kids seems to be developing modesty.  Finally.  For the longest time they preferred to be naked.  I don't know when that usually changes but I think they held on to it for a long time. 
So they now sleep in jammies.  They don't run around the house naked.  And the little man no longer wants anyone around when he is in the bathroom or changing his clothes.  The bathtub is a still okay, but he is working hard on doing all the bath things himself.  And he does a pretty good job of washing his own hair now.  So I'm sure it won't be long and I will just run the bath and leave.
Just noticing their growth. 

Broken Heart

So the little woman and I were discussing her birthday and her plans.  She wants a party at Chuck E Cheese.  And actually after attending a recent one and having the little man's there last year...I really like the venue.  I am in agreement that she can have a party there. 
Then we discuss the guest list.  All adults, her, her brother and Josie.  That's it.  My heart immediately breaks.  Last year she invited six and one showed up.  So I think that colored the future.  So this time she only wanted to invite one. 
Then she had a discussion with her brother and she changed her mind on Josie.  I think he convinced her because he doesn't like Josie.  So she decided she would invite the boys down the street.  Three of them.   I'm trying to understand a boy party.  Well it may have had something to do with the discussion she had to have had with the little man.  He did ask her if she wanted to invite Brooklyn this year.  Brooklyn was the sole attender last year.  The little woman said no....Brooklyn is a little too mean now.  And that is exactly what I would expect to hear if the little woman were to tell me about it. 
So we got a couple of weeks to hammer it out yet.  But my heart breaks for my little woman who is having such a hard time right now.  Hoping counseling helps.