Just because you haven't seen me doesn't mean I haven't been here. Well not *here* exactly, but here as in...not gone.
Good thing I don't write song lyrics for a living.
A week ago Saturday the girls were signed up for an old-fashioned children's tea. This was for girls ages 7-12 and as I only have two that still fall into that category, they were the lucky ones. The turnout was wonderful, and this was the first time that the organization (Jesse James Museum and Farm) had done a children's tea. We learned so many things! Here are the girls starting out, playing tic-tac-toe.
It ended in a tie.
But what a cute game nonetheless!
Mercy tries her foot at spinning the top.
Then the ring toss...
Making rag dollies!
Playing pass the bean bag:
My personal favorite part of the day: A reading from "Little Women."
Susannah read the part of Beth...
And Mercy wanted to narrate.
And perhaps the funniest, yet sweetest part of the day was the actual tea. First, the children read the rules of conduct.
Rules of conduct...are you listening, children? It even came with a detailed drawing of a table full of incredibly rude people that none of us should ever emulate.
See? They're all numbered, lest you should wonder which faux pas they are committing, simply look to the sheet. The most amusing thing is that the only "rude" thing the woman is doing, is bringing a hungry baby to the table. I don't know how to discipline a baby out of being hungry...
And the rest of the table are rude gents indeed, not helping the lady at all, but sure, the dog gets fed.
Once we knew what was expected of us, we were allowed to proceed to the tea table.
I know, right?
The girls were soon done, then it was time for more crafts.
Then over to the schoolhouse, for a quick lesson on what it meant to go to school if you'd lived in 1889.
Ahhh, penmanship. I remember thee well.
We were treated to Home, Home on the Range as we sang along.
Was life really simpler then? I think, in some ways it was.
Or perhaps, simply more charming.
And yet, I'm glad I'm sitting in air conditioning, able to blog about this. I suppose each age carries its own charm that is not quite recognized as it's happening.
But on to the modern day! The jr. and sr. high at our church had a "food fight kick-off" for the beginning of the year. My children were especially excited, as they have never been allowed to throw food at someone before. Not that they haven't done so (I'm not quite that ignorant) but here it was actually encouraged. Thank you to Denise who took photos of the evening.
While talking to my children about it later, they were nearly certain that the event drew in teens from the area that they had never seen before.
Although I'm left wondering, how can they be sure?
They were sorta clean by the time they got home.
But I still felt the need to wash their clothes. Although of course my children are always thankful for everything I've done for them (*cough*) it's been awhile since I actually heard them thank me for letting them attend and meet some new people.
Perhaps the past week has me waxing nostalgic about a lot of things. Knowing Brett and Josh were soon to be leaving for Haiti to help with the mechanics of the well-digging equipment (of which Haiti, unfortunately remains in much the same condition as shortly after the earthquake), I declared that last Friday would be Huge Lunch Day.
The chickens were put in the roaster. It's pure torture, smelling them cook and knowing it's at least another hour until lunchtime.
My mashed potatoes. YES I leave the skin on. It's more nutritious that way, is what I tell myself.
The toppings. Country gravy (as opposed to that nasty City gravy) and sour cream:
It was, of course, not complete without banana pudding. The decision to make this particular dessert was weighed heavily and discussed intensely. Then we discovered we had bananas, pudding mix, and milk. The decision practically made itself.
The pudding and mashed potatoes were both made with our goat's milk. Thank you to Oreo, Pygmy goata, and Horned White Goat (okay, we don't always get around to naming all of them).
Have a good week, all!
