Tea For Two And Two For Tea (Updated!)

We are in full tea-party mode around our house these days. I'm not sure if it's because Spring might finally be here or because Phoebe has discovered the "girly fun-ness" of tea parties. Whatever the case may be, we have tea parties daily around here. Sometimes I pull out the china and we have them together and sometimes it's just Phoebe and her babies and a little tin teapot.

Because I'm always looking for an excuse for a party, I decided to have a real tea party! With guests and pearls and teacups and dainty food and everything! We kept it small and only invited my friend, Dixie, and her daughter, Dacie. Phoebe asked me for days when the tea party would happen and on Monday morning, she could hardly contain herself!

When our guests finally arrived (in their very tea party best!), we made some "Tea Party hats".


A little back story on these easy-peasy, oh-so-precious hats. On Easter, when my sister was about four, she and our cousin made these little hats during Sunday school. My grandmother took their picture and it still resides in the "pink room" at THE FARM. I have made them several times since in my former days as a public school pre-k teacher and they never fail to look absolutely, positively adorable! All you do is cut the middle out of a cheap-o paper plate, glue kleenex tissues all over the top (preferably in the middle of each tissue and using a bunch!), tie with some yarn, and there you go: A Spring Hat. I like to use the colored tissue best because it's so festive! And sometimes you even smell like an old lady because they're scented. Next time, instead of yarn, I'm going to use big ribbon because that would be even cuter!

See?! Seriously, cute!


Then we put on our pearls and make-up (because no tea party is complete without them!)




"Make-up doesn't make you prettier, it just makes you sparkly!"


Ready for a tea party!


(This was the best picture I took of her in all her tea party duds. Apparently, lip gloss makes her lips "stick" together!)

One more goofy picture in Dacie's great-grandmother's hat. This gal can rock a cloche hat! (At least that's what kind of hat I think it is.)


Dixie sent me the pictures she took with her camera of the girls together. Aren't they precious?! (And who would have thought it was my daughter who was the "warm-toned" girl of the group?)


Here's the marginal one I took, but it is a nice picture of the table! Notice my vintage tablecloth (I used the one with a hole in it) and mismatched teacups (thank you, JILL). These gals were waiting so patiently for the tea party food to be ready!


We had pink tea (Crystal Light), egg salad tea sandwiches, "sparkly" pb&j tea sandwiches, strawberries and "cream" (a yummy dip made with equal parts cream cheese and marshmallow fluff), dainty cheese pies, tiny cupcakes, and "sweet bites" (a fancy donut hole from United). We had a busy weekend so most of the tea party fare was store bought instead of homemade.



Even though it was a proper tea party...
(Notice Phoebe's upright "pinky" or "pinksies" as she calls them.)



... It wasn't all proper behavior!


There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. ~Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

Very Cool Things I've Seen

I've seen some pretty cool stuff in my lifetime. And I'm not talking about the birth of my children or my beloved's tearful face as I walked down the aisle. Those things were wonderful and miraculous, but I'm not talking about those very personal moments. I'm talking about moments that had absolutely nothing to do with me other than the fact that I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to witness something extra ordinary.

* On a family trip the summer before my sophomore year in high school to Myrtle Beach, my parents decided it would be a good idea for me to get some driving practice in while we took the "scenic" routes through Georgia and Alabama and Mississippi. Everyone was asleep (except my mom...for some reason she just couldn't relax!) and we drove up on this tiny little township in Georgia. The highway went right through the heart of the town and was lined on both sides with big, old white houses with American flags unfurled. It was breathtaking and my mom and I stopped in mid-conversation just to drink in the sight. I've never seen a more iconic piece of Americana since.

* During Sing Song my senior year at ACU, one of the hosts proposed to one of the hostesses during their Saturday night rendition of "Come What May" (at least, I'm 95% positive it was that song...I can't really remember). What I remember was being huddled around a huge screen in the double gym with 200 or so of my fellow ACU students to watch this event. I don't even remember who the host and hostess were, but I remember their engagement and how cool it was that everything just fell into place to make this moment happen. Seriously, how often in life do the stars align just right?

* Anytime Willard Tate sang to the students in Chapel.

* At Christmas one year (since I've been married, I think) my mom and I were doing a little Christmas shopping at the mall. We grabbed lunch in the food court and there was a military guy in line behind us in his fatigues. A woman (that he didn't know) walked up to him and said, "My family appreciates the sacrifices you've made for our country and we are going to buy you lunch." Then she chatted him up the Panda Express line before she paid for his lunch. I thought it was dear and appreciative and something I would never do because I don't really like to talk to people I don't know, but you know it made his day!

* While waiting for a plane once at Lovefield, I saw a woman get off the airplane to meet her sister (I presume) and they were wearing the same outfit!

* One time, in elementary school, a kid brought a harmonica to school. The janitor (who looked a little like John Denver) did an impromptu concert in the cafeteria during lunch time. He was pretty talented!


Have you ever witnessed something momentous?

For All The Fabric Nerds Out There

And you know who you are.

You're the gals who hyperventilate when AMY BUTLER or HEATHER BAILEY come out with a new line. You're the gals who bring down the average age of the patrons of a quilt store by 20 years. You're the gals who have a stash of fabric and patterns "just because". You're the ones whose husbands say, "You spent how much on fabric?!" You're the gals whose friends' eyes' glaze over when you get to talking about color and texture and pattern and your next six projects. You're the ones who will read this post to the very end and LOVE every single word of it...especially the pictures!

For the rest of you, I apologize. Check back later. I'll probably be posting something about my children or a recipe soon.

This is my quilt bag.

I carry it with me, full of patterns and fabrics, whenever I head to a fabric store so I'll have everything I need.

As you can see, it's almost full.


That's because I went to the very best quilt store in the whole entire world! Or at least the best one I've ever been to. It's the CABBAGE ROSE in Fort Worth. My mom found it by accident a few months ago and told me that it was a "must-do" over Spring Break. So we did. Twice. I was so overwhelmed on my first visit (and we only had about an hour) that I had to go back the next day. Even if you are not a quilter, but you love a good fabric, then this shop should be on your "10 Things To See Before You Die" list.

Oh my heavens, was it wonderful!

I came home with a bag full of fun fabric and patterns. (Truth be told, it already had two finished quilt tops in inside.) I bough these two fabrics to make THIS for Phoebo-licious.


It's a practice run for when I use these fabrics to make THIS and THIS. Aren't they luscious?!


I'm very nervous because I haven't done much actual sewing before. I've mastered the PILLOWCASE DRESS , the HALLOWEEN COSTUMES (TWICE!),and I did make some pajamas for Eli once when he was about 18 months, but they were nothing to write home about. Really. My mom had to fix them because the legs were crazy messed-up! That's why I bought the practice fabric. Well, that and it was soooo pretty.

I also bought the backing and binding fabric for my dad's quilt. I finished the top (only a month after his birthday!) and told him he could pick out the backing. Lo and behold, they had it Cabbage Rose! (The blue is the backing and the brown is the binding, in case you were wondering.)

I also bought the fabric to make THIS quilt for Eli.


And I bought THIS pattern because I just liked it! :)

I might have gone just a teensy-tiny bit overboard with all my projects! What can I say? I get a little light-headed in a good quilt store and all common sense is thrown out the window. If you've made it this far, then you probably completely understand. So what projects are you currently working on? Or hope to work on? Or bought fabric for and now wonder when you'll get them all finished?

Check back in 6 months. I might have finished half of mine!

Two Mommy Rules

The Friday before Spring Break, Phoebe and I headed to Mickey D's to meet up with a couple of friends and their mommies. Nuggets were consumed, drinks spilled, and a good time was had by all. Mostly.

While we were there, Phoebe was *attacked* by a little boy in the play structure. And I'm not being dramatic. Twice. To make a long story short, she ended up with a bad scratch under her eye (it drew blood) and I've had a story to tell. (I edited the scratch out of most of our Spring Break pictures, but there's still a little scar there. Temporary, I hope!)

I have two Mommy Rules:

1. Don't discipline other people's children. The line gets a little blurry on this one when it comes to close family friends and when you're in a teaching position, but for the most part, I don't discipline other people's children. 1). It's not my job and 2). That's pretty presumptuous. I can barely civilize my own children so to think that I might be able to civilize someone else's is crazy! We have rules in our family and I expect my children to follow them, but I don't want to force them on other people's children. Their family probably has rules that we don't enforce and I don't want my children to feel like that family (you know the one) because we don't. We live in a world where everyone defines their own right and truth and my children need to know where our family stands and how to interact with people who don't have the same values/rules/beliefs that we do. It's just the world we live in, whether we like it or not. I want my children to love all people (even those with different views) and through that share the Kingdom of God with the world.

2. Don't judge other Mommies. Ever. Here's where I'm going to get on my soapbox a little bit. As moms, we are all trying to do the very best we can the only way we know how. We mess up every single day and usually more than once. Being the parent of an incredibly strong-willed, independent, contrary, selfish child has taught me more about judgement than I ever cared to know. (That apple didn't far fall from the tree! You know, his DAD! hee hee) I don't judge the mom whose child is throwing a fit at the grocery store and she is just ignoring it. Maybe it's the 43rd fit of the morning and all she wants to do is get her groceries and go home so she can cry in peace. I don't judge the mom whose child is running around like a wild banshee at church or the doctor's office or the preschool playground. Maybe she's Loved and Logic-ed and Prepped For Parenthood and Shepherded the Child's Heart and still they won't behave...sometimes you just have to leave the house! I don't judge the mom whose child is peeing off the playground structure. Maybe she is overwhelmed by infertility or cancer or a broken heart and she just can't see beyond the end of her pain...to the detriment of her child. And when I say I don't judge, I mean not even in my head. Being a mom is the hardest thing you'll ever attempt, whether you work or stay at home or you're single or you're married or you have one child or you have sixteen. It's HARD. And we need to be a little more loving and understanding of each other as moms. We need to celebrate the differences in our parenting styles and personalities and be a little more patient and love a lot more.


So, what do my rules have to do with Phoebe's Attack at McDonald's? (And you thought I was just rambling!) I'm apologizing to the little boy's mom if you thought I was trying to discipline your child when I told him "No!" By your quick exit, you probably thought I was out of line (and I might have been), but really, it was an instinct (one that I'm not very proud of) to protect my child. Us mommies...we're a territorial bunch. I know you understand. I know that sometimes the days are hard and I can't reassure you that they'll get much better. But I hope that we can share the PlayPlace again soon. It's a hard job and we all need our lunch breaks!

"A boy is trust with dirt on it's face, beauty with a cut on it's finger, wisdom with bubble gum in it's hair, and the hope of the future with a frog in it's pocket"

The Last Half Of Spring Break In Pictures

The last half of Spring Break seemed to fly by and by the time I caught my breath, it was Monday. I made it home (despite a snow storm on the first day of Spring!), unpacked, mopped my floors, did five loads of laundry, baked a chicken pot pie, and spectated the first soccer game of the season. Whew! I figured I better blog about the 743 pictures I took over Spring Break before I forgot why I took them. :)

Thursday morning we loaded up and went to the zoo. My dad thought it was a bit of an overkill to pack the bandaids and the antibiotic cream and the antibacterial wipes and the snacks and the jackets and the water bottles and the extra stroller, but it was all necessary! We arrived at 9:02 and parked in the third parking space in the first parking lot! When has that ever happened at the Dallas Zoo on Spring Break? It was a bit cool, but when it's cool, all the animals are out. Even the tigers...who I have never seen before because they are spending the hot afternoon trying to stay cool in the shade.

Why is it that the flamingos are always at the entrance of every zoo?

I mean, I know they're interesting and all what with the pink feathers (because they eat shrimp) and fake-backward knees (it's actually their ankles), but they are still just birds.

Lincoln and I hanging around in the entrance to the Reptile House. I don't "do" snakes or spiders or tarantulas or albino alligators or poisonous frogs. (I read once that a thing is "venomous" if it bites you and you die and it's "poisonous" if you bite it and you die. Does anyone know if this is true?) Usually I don't even darken the doors, but it was cold outside and the Reptile House was heated so Lincoln and I hung out together in the lobby. He loves the Baby Bumblebee song!


Here's a picture of Phoebe sitting next to the oldest bathrooms in the zoo. I'm pretty sure I remember going to those exact same bathrooms on my first-grade-field trip.

Aren't we all glad I brought that extra stroller?

Pictures of the children on animal statues. Apparently, I find iron animals much more exciting than real animals.

I'm not sure Phoebe appreciated Eli stealing her spotlight.

I love this carousel. It's full of endangered animals like jaguars and elephants and lions and eagles...and a Triceratops. I think they missed the boat on that one.

It was after this picture that the Incident happened.

I lost Phoebe. In that "I only took my eyes off her for a second" she disappeared. The first few minutes I was sure she'd just pop into view, but then the first few minutes turned into several minutes and I was starting to panic. Just as I was about to really flip out, I spotted her, hand-in-hand with a zoo employee. I'll admit, I cried. Not during the search or while I was running frantic and my stomach churned, but when I knew it was going to be okay. After that we ate our lunch and decided it was time to go home for a nap and a Sonic Diet Coke with lime.

Friday morning we went to the Science Museum.

It was fun, but I felt a little like I spent $30 so Phoebe could play in the sand and Eli could blow bubbles. Eli seemed to fall between the lines when it came to exhibits. He was too young to understand the "big-kid" stuff but he was a little too mature for the Children's Museum. Oh well.







It was a fun Spring Break. Well, with the exception of THIS and the grease burns I gave myself on Monday and Eli's tummy bug on Tuesday and my BIG IDEA and losing Phoebe at the zoo and Phoebe burning herself on a hot pan of biscuits and a snow storm on the first day of Spring. But it was still great fun...enough fun that now I'm ready for a *real* vacation. :)

My Friend Kristen's *Brilliant* Idea

It's 9 o'clock Wednesday evening and I am seriously regretting my decision earlier today.


I decided that today was the day Phoebe was going to give up her paci. We've been talking about the Paci Fairy for weeks now and I decided it was high time for her to make her visit. It wasn't going to get any easier the longer I waited and Phoebe was only getting older and older each passing day. This morning I told her that the Paci Fairy had come to me the night before and told me that I need to take the children to THIS fun place where Phoebe would put her paci in a bear while she was here at the house collecting all the other paci's. (This brilliant plan was concocted by my friend, Kristen, who doesn't seem so brilliant at the moment!)

Sheesh.

Don't we all look so ready and excited and green?! What can I say? It was St. Patrick's Day. At least we weren't at the ZOO. (And yes, Eli is wearing the same shirt as last year.)


Picking out our bears was great fun (despite Eli's expression in the picture). Photoshop can only do so much.


Filling the bears with hearts and love and hugs...and paci's!



We did the whole shebang...sounds, stuffing, showers, clothes, and birth certificates. This is Eli, Luke the Bear, Phoebe, and Adley the Bear. Sometimes Adley the Bear is called Fancy Pancy.


Then I made Eli pose for these pictures. We don't get out much.




The whole "no paci" thing was going pretty well. We went almost the entire day not needing the paci...until bedtime. Then it was mega-meltdown. She wanted me to take the paci out of the bear or find another paci (because surely the Paci Fairy couldn't find all of them) or buy another one at Target. I eventually had to lie down next to her as she drifted off to sleep. Because, you know, I'm so all about the self-soothing.


I will say that Phoebe has stopped crying now that I'm finished with my post (only 45 minutes later). Maybe Kristen's a genius and her idea wasn't so bad after all. Maybe the transition will be much easier than I imagined. Maybe Phoebe was just really ready to give up the paci and just needed a gentle push in the right direction.

Or maybe we'll wake up tomorrow to find that Phoebe has performed a "paci-ectomy" on Adley the Bear.