The Heavenly Zoo
“The care the eagle gives her young, safe in her lofty nest,
is like the tender love of God for us made manifest.
As when the time to venture comes, she stirs them out to flight,
so we are pressed to boldly try, to strive for daring height.
And if we flutter helplessly, as fledgling eagles fall,
beneath us lift God’s mighty wings to bear us one and all.”
Tonight we had the last of our weekly Good Shepherd Garden Parties. This one was based on the theme “The Heavenly Zoo.” Here are a few pictures from our Garden Party :
~ The Water ~
Ice Water
I had planned on using flavored water, but changed my mind at the last minute and just had the kids fill up the glasses with ice water, after they finished setting the table.
~ The Deer ~
ReinDEER Trail Mix
This “trail mix” is really just a combination of a whole bunch of almost empty bags in my pantry: mini-marshmallows, pretzel sticks, chow mein noodles, sixlets, alphabet cookies, and raisinets. I then printed some labels that I found online. I thought they were cute, even if they are “a little out of season.”
~ The Lion ~
Lion Cheese and Crackers Snack
This little guy was inspired by a Bear Cheese and Crackers Snack, to which I made a couple tiny modifications. He didn’t turn out as well as I hoped, but our Flower Silicone Cups worked great for his mane and the kids loved the addition of cheese, crackers and olives to the party.
~ The Beehive ~
Beehive Buns
This morning while I was trying to come up with a substitution for the Baked Beehive Pears, I ran across a recipe for Beehive Buns. They were pretty simple to make and everyone LOVED them! They were Hubby’s favorite part of the meal, and hopefully I won’t wait a year to make them again.
I also made Honey-Curry Chicken as a main dish, along with a pot of rice, but I never did get a picture.
~ The Peacock ~
Peacock Cupcakes
Once again we made our little Peacock Cupcake! This year I didn’t have (or feel up to making any light blue frosting) so I just used some green spray for her face, and some yellow gel frosting along with green and dark blue gel frostings.
~ The Pelican ~
Pelican Toasties
Our Pelican’s turned out much better this year, since I was able to find a loaf of flat bottomed french bread.
~ The Phoenix ~
Phoenix-Tail Shrimp Cocktail
Once again we had a shrimp cocktail, which I don’t touch do to allergies. I had to include it though since it is one of my oldest son’s favorite foods!
~ The Dove ~
The funniest part of the party was listening to everyone’s little “Promises” message, found on the inside of their Dove Chocolate wrapper.
Hubby and I started cracking up when one of our children read:
“Happiness is found in your heart, not in the circumstances circus.”
My wrapper said “Buy yourself flowers.” Which was totally ironic since, when I was out to lunch with a bunch of my neighbors this afternoon, one of my neighbors (who sells beautiful bouquets of fresh flowers at the local Grower’s Market) was just telling us all about her new promotion (a weekly delivery of flowers for 15 weeks, until frost) and I took a brochure, wanting so badly to sign up, but couldn’t quite justify buying myself flowers. 😉
Well, the dishes are washing and the kitchen is clean. I am headed outside to enjoy the last little bit of daylight, a cup Peacock of Hot Cocoa (I passed on the cupcakes), and play Words With Friends on my iTouch!
Tomorrow is already the very last day of the Easter season, and we will be Celebrating Pentecost! I hope you all have a very blessed Pentecost Sunday!!
Prayer of Mothers
Father in heaven, grant me the grace to appreciate the dignity which you have conferred on me. Let me realize that not even the Angels have been blessed with such a privilege—to share in your creative miracle and bring new Saints to heaven. Make me a good mother to all my children after the example of Mary, the Mother of your Son. Through the intercession of Jesus and Mary I ask your continued blessings on my family. Let us all be dedicated to your service on earth and attain the eternal happiness of your kingdom in heaven. Amen.
LOL, as soon as I got done reading this post my iTouch chimed at me to let me know you played. 🙂
The reindeer trail mix was a brilliant way to use up the little bits of this & that that build up in the pantry. I'm think I'm going to copy you on the honey buns tomorrow. Those cupcakes are so darn cute. If I didn't already make some Pentecost cupcake for tomorrow I would made them. I'll have to plan it for next year.
Hope you have a blessed Pentecost Sunday tomorrow!
That's it! I must go get a peacock mug! I skipped the cupcake too so I think I deserve it! My Sean also loved the beehive buns and I think your lions turned out super cute!
Your garden party looks beautiful and delicious! I've enjoyed seeing your posts about it over this Easter season.
I had to laugh at that last picture – is that Words with Friends on your device there? My dad just told me about that a few days ago and now I'm playing with him and my husband. It has been a lot of fun!
Isn't the peacock mug cute?! I bought it at Pier One just after Easter and have been saving it for this Garden Party, not sure how I'd put it to use. I used a coupon, but it looks like they are on clearance now!
Amber ~ Yes, that is Word with Friends. 🙂 I love that game!!!
My Dove chocolates just told me to "get a good night sleep" followed by "draw myself a bath". Are they trying to tell me that I look tired and smell bad?
BTW… why yes, those adorable mugs are on clearance and our closest store had three. Now they have two!
What fun little changes you did…love the deer trail mix and the bee hive buns! Oh yes, and the lion cheese and crackers were so clever too. Hope you are having a blessed Pentecost Sunday!
too cute– my oldest son's favorite food is shrimp, too! The part looks great!
I was at Pier One two weeks ago and bought a super cute owl mug for my desk in our school room. Bummer I didn't see the peacock mug. 🙁 I did pick up one of their peacock feathers though!
Oh everything is so cute! The beehive, the lion! Oh my goodness! And your peacock mug!!
Oh and is it my turn on Words? lol… And stop beating Tony so bad, it is very hard for me to get any sleep when he is grumbling about 126 points. 😉