A Splendid Tea Party!

Notice: Anything in this post that is in " "s is a direct quote from Emmuska's mouth. Really that girl does crack me up!

So, yesterday was my niece, Emmuska's 5th birthday. Among other things one of the presents she recieved was a tea set- and not just a doll tea set ladies and gents, no sir. It was a little girl tea set! Perfectly big enough to throw a real tea party! Naturally Emmuska wanted to throw a tea party that very night but Samuel kept getting in the way and the tea party did not go over very well.  Emmuska was very disappointed and Steph promised her that when Sam went down for his nap tomorrow (today in real terms) we would throw another one.

Today came and down for his nap Samuel went, taking Stephanie with him (he sleeps longer and better with someone next to him...don't we all? ...well, providing that that 'someone' doesn't toss and turn a whole lot) so after I finished up with some odds and ends we got the tea (hot chocolate) water boiling and we set up for a lovely tea party for 4 people. (The Hostess, Emmuska, and the Guests, Me, Liberty, and Dora)

Everything was set and everything went off swimmingly. It was "a simply splendid tea party!" Everything was "delectably delicious" and our gracious hostess was very good about keeping our cups filled and offering us "another spot of tea". She also gave us some tips in etiquette by letting us know that "pinkies out was SO elegant" and assuring us that we "never have to worry about anything if pinkies are out"

In the end she was very happy that "Little Samuel hadn't sat in the chocolate AGAIN" and she decided "that tea parties go off much better without little brothers" And as an added bonus "the Lions never showed up! I was so afraid that they would!"

It was, to quote Emmuska, a splendid tea party and she and I have plans for many more in the coming days!

Discussing important matters such as doll clothes, the importance of keeping "Little Buddy" asleep, and if we thought the chocolate should be "a spot more chocolatey" at our tea party

My beautiful tea

Liberty and Dora at our tea party

Liberty politely asking 'Miss' as Emmuska was known for 20 minutes, for a refill on her tea and on Dora's tea (for some unknown reason Dora didn't seem to have "much of an appetite")

Miss Emmuska pouring a refill. She was actually quite graceful and good at it

Our hostess and graciousness itself, Miss Emmuska.

Raking Leaves

So I decided that I have just given up on the idea of even TRYING to catch up on all that has happened in the last while. So many things have happened and it would be a lot of effort. Instead I have promised myself that I will stay updated (because really that is just SO much easier!) from this moment on. (I'm thinking that this promise to myself might last at least slightly longer than my New Years Resolutions do.....and that I think will still be an accomplishment :-D)

For any of you who don't know (...I don't know who you'd be because I know everyone who read this blog and I know you all know...) I'm in Missouri now! I moved to Dixon, MO about 2 1/2 weeks ago and I'm currently living with (read 'mooching off of' :-P) Steph and Mycal. Somewhat to my surprise I absolutely love this area! It  is simply gorgeous where I am and I love the drive out to get anywhere (at least when I'm not the one driving and I don't have to concentrate on making sure we don't die on the turns and curves....) Missouri is a beautiful, beautiful state. Different from the picture I had in my head.

Anyways, on to the actual post! When I was younger I was a strictly indoors type of gal. Thom, Pam and I had a system worked out- I do the indoor cleaning and they take care of weeding, shoveling, mowing, raking leaves, etc...anything outdoors (of course I was the only one who KEPT my side of the bargain but that's a different story... :-P) But then Thom went on a mission. Still the bargain held. I took care of inside, Pam of the outside. And then Pam went on a mission. I was stuck, I wanted to help mom in any way I could so I eventually gathered up all my courage and went outside to shovel the driveway. While it wasn't as bad as I remembered I didn't particularly enjoy myself. It was something to get done and that was it.

Then spring came and I gathered up more courage and I mowed the lawn. And I LIKED it! Wait! No, this was not to happen! I'm an indoors girl! I can't become an indoor/outdoor girl! Or could I? I could, and I totally did! (Of course part of this like could be attributed to the fact that I always listen to music when I mow lawns and rake leaves....not when I shovel driveways. I'm not sure why this is, but it is.)

So it is Fall here in Dixon, MO and as typical of fall anywhere there were leaves out in the front yard. Wanting to get out and get a little sun and still be useful I volunteered to rake the front yard. I plugged in my tunes, found a rake, wished I could find a pair of gloves, gave up on the gloves, and started raking. Quickly I remembered that leaves are very devious and deceptive. I swear there are not that many on the ground and then you start raking and there are a ton!! I always kind of wonder where they come from....

Anyhoo, it started out with me, and them Emmuska came out to help, followed by Liberty and we even got a quick cameo from Sam! Of course once kids came on the scene the faithful Auntie got the camera on the scene! So lets the pictures commence! :-D

Emmuska was actually a much bigger help than I thought she was going to be. (See that car in the background? I officially hate that car....)

Here she is raking herself into a ditch...literally

Because the best thing to do when you have a huge (or even medium sized) pile of leaves is to jump in them!

And then Liberty came out to help! She would take little handfuls of leaves, pick out the pretty ones to save for later, put them in her bag and then when her bag was full she took it to the ditch

Haha, I love how Steph's kids react when a camera is brought out. Little sighs and then charming me with their camera smiles. Already they're prepared for the paparazzi :-D

I LOVE this picture! I think it could totally be a senior picture....you know, if she was a senior...

Apparently leaves make pretty good sets for photo ops. I'll keep this in mind to myself for future reference

Finally all the leaves were raked up and Auntie Bonnie would let them jump in them (I'll admit it, I was kind of a slave driver until they were finished though....)

Liberty was SO funny! She was going to jump in and then she changed her mind at the last second and decided to carefully walk in

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our finished product! Doesn't it look so perty?!

A random shot of my lovely dog, she was so happy for the chance to be outside. Of course the lack of outside opportunities has been entirely her fault. She's afraid to leave my side and sticks to me like glue- as I'm primarily an indoor creature, she is now too. It's kind of funny, and sad, and a little touching

And here! Here is the amazing thing out Dixon. No bagging leaves for these folks! Nope they just rake them into ditches that are located right along the streets in their front yard. And then, to get rid of the leaves, they just burn them. I LOVE IT! I love the smell of it and it was SO convenient! There was a small portion of my heart that missed putting them into our green monster and jumping on them to get them down enough for more layers but really that's only fun when you have Thom there to encourage you and help you jump...and push you over...and do more Thom-esque things. Nevertheless, this ditch thing? AWESOME!