Katie's Tea Party

I have a daughter...just one. She's right in the middle of my 4 boys. I love her with all my heart and would lay down my life for her, but to be honest, I think she may have been switched at birth. If she wasn't the spitting image of me when I was her age, I'd be considering a DNA test. I am so not a fru-fru kind of person. Actually, I wish I was a little more interested in frilly things...you know...the kind of person that buys a Victoria magazine and then is actually able to copy the ideas. But alas, I am more of a black/white, practical, Pottery Barn girl. Katie loves all things beautiful. And, she loves to bake. The reason I have put on 10 lbs. in the last year is that she bakes cookies non-stop. When I make cookies, I cut open the package, break apart the square cookie dough portions and put them in the oven. I throw away the package and pat myself on the back for making "home-made" cookies. None of those nasty store-bought packaged cookies for me!! Then there's Katie...she pours over my cookbooks, looking for the one recipe that grabs her eye, or her stomach. Then, she actually makes cookies using flour and sugar. I've bought more flour and sugar in the last year that I have in the last 10 years combined!! And, she doesn't just do cookies. She makes it all...brownies, cakes, muffins, bread, rolls... If I let her, she will bake it.

All that to say, she and I decided to have a little Mother/Daughter back to school tea part a couple of weeks ago. We made the invitations and invited 7 girls and their moms. Five were able to attend. With a little guidance, she came up with a menu. I helped with the schedule, but she made almost everything herself. The day before the party, she began baking at noon and didn't stop until 6:00. We had a little budget for the tables and were able to do everything pretty cheaply. Here's a few pictures.

This is a picture of the Girls' Table

Here's a picture of the Moms' Table

These are pictures of the place settings. Our theme was Flowers and Bees. The colors were pink and yellow. The table that had the yellow place mats was for the girls, and the table with the yellow table cloth was for the moms.

The menu was:

Appetizers: Cheese/crackers, mini blueberry muffins

Lunch: Sandwiches (chicken salad, ham/cheese, cheese), broccoli salad, Pringles,

Dessert: Honey Lemon Bee Hive Cake, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Beverage: Water, Aunt Cathy's Punch

Here's a picture of the beautiful cake. It was surprisingly easy to make and it was delicious.

These are the Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.

We ate on the back porch under the awning. It's covered with wisteria and grapevines. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We played a game, ate lunch, and then the girls went downstairs to make a little craft while the moms stayed outside and visited.

I think my girl has gotten her fru-fru fill and will be satisfied for at least a little while.

The Leading Cause of Death

Roger's step-mother, Beverly, (we called her Bebs) passed away Wednesday night after a long battle with colon cancer. She and dad had been married for 11 years. And, even though she is now pain-free and with the Lord, we are very sad...especially for dad. Roger's mother died from ovarian cancer in 1994, so we are so sad to see him have to go through this again. Dad tends to be quite a philosophical man, and one of his many lofty quotes is, "The leading cause of death is life. And we all have a terminal case." I've thought about this many times over the last few weeks as we've known Bebs' time was coming to an end. Even though I understand, and can even appreciate the meaning, it doesn't really make me feel any better. When my mother died, there were several well-meaning people that would say things like, "You should be glad she's in a better place." (What? I should be glad?) Or, "You can be thankful she's not in pain anymore." (I'm supposed to be thankful?) Or, my favorite, "God will always bring good from our pain...perhaps someone came to know the Lord because of her death." I look back now and know they weren't trying to intentionally be unkind... but all I could feel was the pain of her absence. I didn't care if somebody got saved bcause of her death! I wanted her here. Our relationship with Bebs is obviously not as deep as the relationship with my mother, but we are still sad that she is gone and would have liked for her to be around a lot longer. She is the only grandmother my children have ever known.

A Mother/Daughter Color Challenge

It's amazing, but I actually had time to do Kristina Werner's color challenge...2 weeks in a row is a record for me! When I decided to go to the stamp room and play, Katie came with me. I explained the color challenge. She wanted to play too. She had really liked the "cute as a pumpkin" stamp and wanted to use it. I had the idea to do the masking...so we both created a card. Here's the challenge:

We were supposed to use Chocolate Chip, Bravo Burgundy, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, and Old Olive.

Here's my card.

Card stock--Pumpkin Pie, Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla

Ink--Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, So Saffron,

Supplies--Aqua Painters, Pumpkin Pie and Burgundy Ribbon,

Here's Katie's card:

I can't figure out why it's turned. It doesn't look like that in my camera or in the file where I've saved it in my computer. Another cybermystery!

I love this craft! It gives Katie and me the opportunity to "play" together but still work on our own projects.

Color Challenge 22

Well, I haven't been able to do a color challeng in a while. This is from Kristina Werner's website at www.kwernerdesign.com/blog. I love the shower curtain! While we were in Branson last weekend, I got this beautiful paper...and it matches the challenge perfectly. Let me know what you think. I had trouble using the Regal Rose. And, I wasn't sure where to put the "bow". Anyway, it was quick and I think it turned out ok.

3-Year Curtain Drama

Here are some pictures of my 3-year curtains. "Three year old curtains?", you say? No...not 3 years old. Three years is how long it took me to get around to making them! Isn't that pitiful!!?? I have a small balcony off my bedroom and I thought it would be so nice to have some little panels to soften up the corners of the house. I found the fabric on Ebay 3 years ago. We're not talking super, complicated curtains here. These are just rectangular panels! Come on!! You just need to cut and sew around the edges. The fact is, I hate to sew. Actually, I don't hate the sewing part, I hate the fact that I can never just sew. Running the fabric through the machine is no problem. The problem comes when the bobbin runs out, or the tension is wrong and messes up the stitches, or the spool runs out of thread, or the thread on the bottom just gets knotted up, etc... I can't remember a time that I've sewn something and it's gone smoothly. So, 3 years later, I had put these panels on my "To do" list. Naturally, I saved it until the very last week of summer. Will I put it off again? On the last Thursday of summer, I got out the fabric and went ahead and cut the panels and pinned all the hems. My plan was to ask Roger to do the sewing part. He's much more patient than me... but he thought doing it myself would be a good lesson in my patience and perseverance! Well, I don't know about that, but he sure ticked me off. So, I put on my most wounded and abused attitude and gave it a try. Sure enough...after about 5 minutes, the thread was completely knotted in the bobbin. I couldn't even pull the string out! So, with the proverbial wind out of my sails, I folded everything up and put it away. I'll teach him!! See how much I'm suffering!!

So, you're wondering how I took a picture if they're folded and put away. Well, after about 3 days, Roger asked me where the curtains had gone. I matter-of-factly told him that the bobbin was messed up and I decided to just forget it. "No, no, no...don't help... I'll get around to it...eventually... no, you obviously don't want to help, so just don't worry your little head about these curtains. I'll get them done...someday...." Roger wasn't fooled by my drama. He told me that if I wanted his help, go get them and let's get them done. Why does the sewing machine always work perfectly for him!!