Tea Party

Carolina and I were invited to a tea party with our good friends Jessica and Lydia today. Jessica and I had been tossing the idea around for a while and she graciously offered to host. I'm so glad she did because she did such a good job. It was beautiful!

Jessica had the table set with fresh flowers and so many special touches. They had their own crowns and menus and placecards.  The food looked so good and Jessica had worked on so many fun details-- down to the flower-shaped cheese bites. :)  She also had dress-up outfits for them to change into and the girls couldn't wait to get them on.

Mike took Clay and Lydia's brothers out for a boys' day so we were able to enjoy a nice calm afternoon tea party while the boys got to have their own fun day. The girls drank out of adorable tea cups and they couldn't get enough of the "tea" (apple cider). They kept drinking their tea really fast so they could refill their cups.

Both girls ate their fruit the fastest and lingered a little on their sandwiches. Their conversation was so cute, "Lydia, do you like the pink dip with your strawberries?" They each ate a little of their sandwiches and then went upstairs to play.

Jessica and I were able to kick back and enjoy our meal while the girls ate and played. Jessica spoiled us with tea, three types of sandwiches, two kinds of quiches, homemade scones with clotted cream and a plateful of sweet treats. She had classical music playing and the girls were so quiet. It was definitely a change of pace from the normal kid parties we do (which we love). It was so much calmer! :) 

The girls came down a couple of times to check in. They were so excited to try all of the cute little desserts. Eventually the boys came back and told us all about their adventures. Mike took them to Steak 'n Shake and Bass Pro Shops. They had a blast and didn't want to come home! I was so glad that they were able to have a special day too.

We are so grateful to have friends like Lydia and Jessica to share sweet tea time with. Carolina and Lydia play together so well and it's neat watching them do their girly things. :) We had such a fun time and we're looking forward to many more tea parties to come!

This Cute Girl...Just Got Cuter!

Carolina got her ears pierced! We were out running some errands yesterday and I noticed that there was an ear piercing store nearby. Mike and I have been talking about having her ears pierced since she was a baby but we just never got around to it. Yesterday was the day!!

We took her in and we talked about it a little with her. I wanted to be honest with her that it would hurt a little but that she would be brave. I will say the salesgirl could have done a little better job of selling it to her instead of saying she should only be a little scared. Not the term I would have used. :(

Carolina started getting really nervous but I knew if we left that she would never want to come back and get it done. Mike sat in the chair and held her and they gave her a teddy bear to hold. It was hard to watch her since she started shaking a little bit and kept saying, "I don't want to get my ears "piered" today."

She had a great cheering section since two pre-teen girls stood and watched. They showed her their earrings and encouraged her. Clay and I told her how big she would look when she was all done.

Apparently, I'm super picky mom when it comes to earring placement because the lady had to move the right dot three times. I wanted it centered on her ear lobe and she kept putting it really close to her head and telling me that if she moved it over too much it would look like a second piercing. She finally got it where I wanted. I hated to be a pain but I also didn't want to have to go through this again if it looked funny or have Carolina complaining about it in 10 years.

We had a good thing going until she got the first one done. Carolina lost it a little. The tears started rolling and she was done. It was hard to explain to her that she was already halfway there so we needed to finish the job. I think she thought that if we just walked out then that her ears wouldn't be pierced and it would all be over--and that was good with her. Poor girl. :(

Before she started, the salesgirl had talked to me about coming back on a weekend so there would be two people to do the earrings at the same time. I thought it would be no big deal. Hindsight's 20-20...

It took a while (a pretty good while) of convincing before the lady could do the second one.We told her we would get a surprise when it was done...nothing. We told her what a big girl she would be...nothing. We told her she would look like a pirate with only one earring...nothing. Every time the girl would come near her with the piercing gun, she would shrug her shoulder up and block her ear. Finally, I got a sucker out of the treat jar and it was just enough distract her to get the other earring in.

She was pretty sad for a couple of minutes after the piercing. It was the same kind of betrayed face we see after we take her to get shots. :(

Once we got to the car, she was a lot happier. She is very excited about them now. We have to clean and twist them 3 times a day and every time I do it she fusses at me about pulling her earrings out. She's so worried that they're just going to fall out.

She was very brave and we were so proud of her but we were also proud of her big brother. It is so neat to see him play the encourager. She got her ears done and got a sucker and he never said anything about getting something for himself. There's only 17 months between them so it could have been hard for him but he handled it so well.  The lady did end up giving him a sucker but he didn't even ask for one.

When we got to the car, Clay reminded Carolina about holding the phone to her ear gently so she wouldn't hurt her ear. This morning when I said it was time to clean her ears, he jumped up and came in the bathroom with us. He didn't know we had done it a couple of times already and he was ready and willing to do the job himself. He got on the stool and got the bottle of solution out and grabbed a Q-tip. I had to tell him that I would do it but I love his servant/encouraging heart.

Carolina has looked in the mirror several times to check on her earrings. She's noticed cartoon characters that have them and she's drawn some pictures with earrings on herself. She's always asking me for the gray crayon because she thinks they're gray (they're teeny, tiny diamond studs).

So...we made it through one more rite of passage with our little girl. She looks beautiful with her little sparkly studs and she couldn't be prouder!