Tea for Two & Two for Tea

This was a much anticipated day for a certain little girl around here. Today was the day she got to bring a friend home from school for an afternoon play date. She was so excited to have a friend over to play princess and to have a fancy tea party. At the Replacements yard sale last weekend, I brought home an entire moving box filled with fine china odds and ends to make up an eclectic little tea set for A to use since she loves having tea parties. She picked out tea cups, saucers and plates for each girl, which tea pot each would use, and which bowls to use with each treat. We had all her favorite tea party treats - Great Grandma's lemonade cupcakes, fruit salad, princess cookies, swedish fish, and of course the ever-elegant Cheeetos. Oh, and pink lemonade for tea. It was so funny to watch them - A likes to drink tea with her pinkie sticking up and we were explaining it to her friend. So then her friend drank her tea and stuck up her pointer finger on the other hand while doing it. I had to work hard not to laugh. Poor A cried and cried when it was time for the play date to end - something we'll need to work on by having them more often I suspect. She can't wait for a chance to bring another friend home from school!

By the lake

Playing by the lake after our picnic and walk in the woods

Picnic in the Park

We had such nice weather today, and we are in such dire need of a change of pace around here, so G suggested we have a picnic dinner at our favorite nearby park. So armed with kids meals and fish tacos for us, we headed out and had about 2 hours to eat and play. EB was a riot. She wanted to do everything K&A were doing, and at one point they were shouting "ME!!" to get G to swing them up off of a giant rock and into the air. Next thing we heard was a little voice yelling "ME!!," so up she went, too! She followed along with them, collecting rocks, inspecting strange mushrooms, playing a set of trash cans like drums, and squealing with giddiness. I think she was just glad to be out and about, not strapped into her high chair or car seat or napping in her crib for a change. Poor girl spends an awful lot of time going along with whatever the big kids' schedules dictate. Anyway, then we walked down to the water, and once she got her feet wet on the banks, it was all we could do to keep her from running non-stop into the water. She wanted desperately to be soaked. Once she accomplished that our evening was over, but we had such a nice time that we'll definitely be doing it again soon.

Below are the left and right sides of a 2-page spread I worked on for the scrapbook. I'm not sure all my efforts to work with the sun flare were worth the probable eye damage from staring at the bright light through a glass lens. Oh well.

We have yet another new pet - or should I say pets - SNAILS! A never ceases to amaze me with the creatures she falls in love with. If anyone could ever use a dog, it would be her, but since that's not happening, these snails will do quite nicely. We found them in a friend's yard, and she has created a cozy little habitat for them in a Gladware container outfitted with lettuce, sticks, and special leaves she delivers as surprises for them. It's all turning to slimy, smelly goo (she says "be very careful when you take the lid off Mommy, because their house has gotten very stinky."), but she seems tickled with them. "Shelly" likes to hang out upside down on the lid of the container, so she's been fun to watch. Tomorrow two of the snails are going on a field trip to the discovery room at preschool - they are now living in a smaller luxury condo (a la clear plastic punch cup) with fresh sticks and lettuce in preparation for the trip. Hopefully they will survive a few days of preschoolers!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

We are loving this end of summer weather. This afternoon I went to our neighborhood playground with "just the girls." They each decided to push their own strollers on our walk, and EB periodically stopped to pick up "Bob" (her baby doll) to hug him, kiss him and rock him and sometimes ask me to carry him. It was a nice SLOW walk to the playground. We had the playground all to ourselves, and A gave EB her first ride down the tunnel slide before I could even realize what was happening (hazard of having a huge piece of photographic equipment permanently attached to my face...). EB loved it, though, and she went down again and again and again! They played restaurant with mulch, serving all kinds of delicious entrees and desserts, and the A and I went make-believe shopping for a very fun pretend party involving dishes, streamers, pinatas, balloon, party hats, candy and favors, all delivered via airplane flown by EB. Sounds confusing, but guess you just had to be there. :) EB got to swing, climb and bounce all afternoon, and I'd say we girls had a lot of fun!

Scenes from the playground

New Baby!

My friend Susan just had a new baby - a little girl! It was so much fun to see her this weekend and to be around such a little one again. There's just something so wonderful about them when they are new! Here's one of the birth announcements I've designed for her. This stuff is just too much fun. :)

Affirmation

My encouragement for the week as we've crossed off yet another milestone in the life of a kid that had the potential to make my stomach hurt:

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
~John 17:15

Gotta let go little by little, but God never lets go.

He loves to ride the bus - so far so good!