Tea Anyone?

Oldest DD had a tea party to celebrate her birthday. Six young ladies, all dressed up, sitting around a table laden with goodies - chatting away. (Now I want a tea party myself!)

There were cranberry scones with whipped cream, cucumber sandwiches, pineapple nut sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, chicken salad sandwiches, banana muffins, pumpkin muffins, grapes, sugar cookies and truffles. They had two flavors of tea, regular and peppermint, along with a pot of mango juice for the non-tea drinkers.

DD was encouraged to create several "conversation starters" for times when the discussion lagged. Those could have gone over a bit better, but I think that kind of thing comes with experience.

The girls who were a bit early even got the experience of preparing some of the food. So what if most of the sandwiches weren't perfect little triangles - the girls had fun!

And after the tea - presents!

Stuffed animals and toy animals - yep, her friends know what DD likes.

Then came crafts. The girls worked hard to make beaded Christmas ornaments. Crafting came easier for some than others.

After the ornaments were done it was time for cake. I now have a teenager in the house!

Happy Halloween

Youngest DD finally figured out what was going on when I got her dressed for school that morning in her Cinderella costume.

Am I going to be in the parade this year Mommy?
Yes! You are!
Are you going to come and see me Mommy?
Yes, of course I am.
Will you bring your camera and take pictures of me Mommy? Yes, I'll be sure to bring my camera :o)


The weather cooperated nicely and both girls were able to wear their short sleeved princess costumes with out the added bulk of winter coats.


This is the last parade for middle DD. She opted for a simple pink princess costume. She'll be in a different school building in third grade next year - no more Halloween celebrations. (Yea! Oops, did I say that?)

It was a little different that night too. Oldest DD and DS decided they were too old to go Trick-or-Treating, so they stayed home to hand out the candy instead. Am I actually seeing the beginning of the end of this ritual? Whatever will we do with our rack of dress-up clothes.

It's Always Something . . .

What is it? Is middle DD trying a new salon treatment? Did we decide to color her hair for Halloween? Are we having a Spa and Beauty Day here at home? Nope, nothing so exciting as any of that. We found lice in DD's hair. Yep, four DC and it's our first case of lice ever. So DD got a mayonnaise treatment. I coated her hair in gobs of mayo, then wrapped her head with plastic wrap and sent her to bed. The next morning I washed out the mayo and used a wire lice comb to comb out those long, dark tresses. The mayo did an amazing job of moisturizing her hair - we didn't need any detangler for about a week. So far there have been no more lice in DD's hair. It now gets combed every morning with the lice comb, then sprayed with an herbal bug repellent, then braided or pulled back into a ponytail. Sunday is the big test though - that's the two week mark. By Sunday I'll know if the treatment has been successful.

And just why does she look so happy? I think she's glad we figured out why her head itched so much and that the bugs are going bye-bye!