Our Annual Little Flowers Mother-Daughter Tea Party
On Saturday afternoon we had our 5th annual Mother-Daughter Tea Party! (You can find pictures from 2009, 2010, 2011-which was a Marian Tea followed a few months later with a birthday party, and 2012 in the archives.) Since we have been taking a break from Little Flowers this year, having completed all four wreaths, I wasn’t planning on having another tea until a dear friend offered to host it at her home the day after her own daughters Mother-Daughter Tea Party, leaving me to just coordinate the guests, food, servers, games, prizes and favors! It was so incredibly generous of her and her home was decorated beautifully! Honestly I don’t know how she did it, hosting a 3rd large tea party immediately after my groups… May God bless you and reward you, Stasia!
This year I did ask for a small donation of $5 per family, to help offset the cost of a little hostess gift and tips for the servers. I provided the napkins, favors, games, and prizes, Stasia kindly provided her home with all the decorations, tea, sugar, cream, lemon slices and place cards, and each of the other moms was asked to bring one or two of the menu items for this year’s Four-Course Tea.
Following our first course we had a Mother-Daughter Cupcake Puzzle Race while the servers cleared the soup bowls and prepared for the second course.
Our 3rd course this year was the Grapes, Strawberries and Scones with Cream, Lemon Curd and Jam! In past years this has always been our first course, but we switched it around since this course always seems to make a mess out of the plates. It worked out very well, having it after the sandwiches this year.
Our 4th and final course this year was the desserts. One of the mom’s brought little brownies, another brought gluten-free samoas, and another brought lots of tea type cookies which the servers stacked into towers!
This course concluded our tea and the girls all went outside to play The Game of Graces while the moms helped clear and re-set the tables for the tea party that was following our own.
{pretty, happy, funny, real}
The weather has been crazy this week! On Monday we had grey skies… Rain… Hail… Snow… More rain… Blue Skies… Sunshine… Grey skies… More hail… and then the blue skies came back. It is sunny (yet still a little chilly today) but thankfully the blue skies are back. I’m hoping they will stick around! I’m so ready for summer.
Where is this poor little boy’s momma?! He fell asleep half way across the tile floor while I was making pizzas for lunch last Friday afternoon for the kids and our visitors. Poor baby! I wasn’t going to take a picture (proof of what a awful mom I am sometimes!) but my friend insisted. Don’t you just love the drool and his little toes tucked under his bottom. And that little bruise on his forehead? Well, he has started banging his head on whatever is closest (including that hard tile floor) when he is upset or doesn’t get his way… I’ve never had a baby do that before!
Indoor Tea Party Games
In between each course of our tea party, while the servers prepared for the next course, we played party games! I loved all the suggestions that were shared, but since I ran short on time and since we included some new outdoor activities (Bocce Ball, Maypole, and Graces) this year I opted for a couple favorites from last year’s tea party: the Cupcake Jigsaw Puzzle Race and Little Flowers Bingo.
Well this post includes the last of all the games and activities we had during this year’s Mother-Daughter Tea Party! I have a busy day ahead, since we are (finally!) signing papers this evening on our home refinance… Still I will try and pop back in soon to share the last of the pictures from the tea, including all the lovely decorations and delicious food. I hope you all have a blessed day!
The Maypole and our Beautiful Catholic Faith
According to wikipedia, a maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost (Whitsun) although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer.
Half of the girls encircle the pole in one direction, each holding a ribbon, and the other half face the other direction. To start, one line of girls is to go in first, the other to go out first. To weave the ribbons, a little song can help:
The girls alternate between going in towards the pole, and under the ribbon of person coming towards them. Then, they go out away from the pole, raising their ribbon over the person moving towards them.
The Game of Graces
One of the games I choose for the girls to play during this year’s Mother-Daughter Tea Party was the game of Graces, as suggested by Eliana. It was so much fun!
Beginning with Bocce Ball {and a few Group Photos!}
Despite a forecast of rain and snow the weather cooperated beautifully, even if it was cold, for our Mother-Daughter Tea Party and we were able to enjoy a few outdoor activities! We started with a game of Bocce Ball in the backyard overlooking a beautiful golf course, as we waited for all of our guests to arrive.
“Bocce ball is a game of Italian origin that two to four people can play in the yard, on the beach or on a strip of gravel. Game balls come in two sizes and the goal, in essence, is to roll the large bocce balls closer to the small “target” ball, called the pallino, than your opponents manage to do. In each round, the player who gets closest to the pallino earns a point. It may seem easy, but the game requires precision and patience. Eye-hand coordination is your best asset for winning this game.” – Ehow
Little Flowers “Maypole” Tea Party Favors and Prizes
We had such a lovely time at our our annual Mother-Daughter Tea Party yesterday afternoon! I have so many pictures to share that I hardly know where to begin… It is going to be a very busy week, so it may take me a little time to get to it all, but I think I will start with the party favors and then move on to the games before I finish with the pictures from the actual tea.
As always, I created little party favors for the girls. Back in 2009, for our first tea, I gave the girls little St. Therese plaques. The next year I hand-painted little St. Therese dolls for each of the girls. For our 3rd tea I filled white paper “Tea bags” with treats along with Tea Pot Lollipops. And last year I repeated the “Tea Bags” once again along with Pretzel Rods dipped in white chocolate and pink sprinkles.
This year I decided to do create favors similar to the ones I made for the Baby Shower of Roses. I headed to the dollar store to look for favor boxes and after discovering some “marshmallow poles” decided to try and incorporate a “Maypole” theme as well, since we were hoping to have a Maypole activity this year (more on that later).
Originally I planned to make my own chocolates again, but my husband said he’d rather pay for chocolates than wash my candy molds, which I have a habit of leaving in the sink! it was easier to just pick up some at the store. 😉
7 Quick Takes :: A Birthday Party and Pony Rides!
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And the big boys? Well, they had no intention of riding the poor little pony until Aunt Meagan told them that they could either ride the pony, or clean the driveway after the party! They choose to ride the pony. Captain later told me, while laughing, that when he got on the lady said, “I don’t need to buckle you, if you don’t want me to.”
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{pretty, happy, funny, real} :: The Sound of Music
An Easter Coloring Contest
Illuminated Ink is hosting an Easter Coloring Contest! I just downloaded and printed copies of the beautiful coloring page for my children. They are rounding up their favorite art supplies and can’t wait to begin! Here’s the link in case any of you would like to join the fun!
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