Natalie's 5th Birthday Tea

Natalie's birthday celebration, part 2: A trip to Barbara's tea house for a special mother-daughter date. Natalie has been looking forward to this day since Allison turned 5 and had her special tea. I prayed that it would be as special as Natalie had pictured it, and I believe it was!

Being that it was the Saturday before Christmas, you can imagine it was quite packed. But, there was a special little table set aside for just Natalie and me. It was the perfect setting!

Natalie was in awe of the food before us, and the gorgeous "fancy" setting around us. I noticed she spoke with such manners; then she pointed out she was being polite because that's what you're suppose to be like at tea. (If only every occasion caused the same thing.)

Natalie is my slow eater. However, she had no problem eating quickly this day. (Murphy's Law... or perhaps it was the yummy food!) At least quickly for her was about "normal" for me!

Part of the reason she ate quickly was she was so excited to go look around and try on hats and boas and look at all the pretty, fancy things!




When we were finished, sisters came to pick us up.

Allison enjoyed finishing the cucumber sandwiches and tea. We chose raspberry coconut creme and tiramisu teas. They were both incredible! Natalie picked the raspberry coconut creme to buy and take home.

True story: sit on the bench next to Alison while I tell you...

When we first arrived, I walked in with Natalie and my diaper bag. I set the bag down, then exclaimed, "Natalie -- I forgot Malachi!" I had left him in the car with Daniel and the other girls. My heart sank. Of course, I knew he was safe -- and it was only for an hour and a half. But, still; how could I forget my baby? I felt horrible. I didn't bring my phone, and Daniel didn't return until it was time to pick us up. Malachi had slept the whole time. All was well.

Egg Rolls

So it begins... the 5th birthday celebration for Natalie! We have lots planned for this weekend, beginning with our Family Fun Friday. Lately, every time we go out, Natalie orders egg rolls. Tonight, Daniel decided to show her how to make them!

I just love how Daniel takes the time to show and teach his daughters everything. They have no idea how blessed they are!



Once upon a time, before having kids, Daniel and I spent an evening making egg rolls as Christmas gifts for friends. This brings back fond memories!


The egg rolls were a huge hit with everybody! Natalie claimed them as her favorite. They also made some cream cheese won tons that the girls loved. (Who doesn't like those?!?!) We will have to do this again, soon!

The Slippers.

My friend gave me a bag of hand-me-down slippers for my little man, and I absolutely fell in love with one pair. These little gray slippers can be found keeping his toes cozy most days. I haven't even tried socks yet, as none of my other kids ever could, (and still don't) keep socks on. So, I am SO grateful for these slippers. They are tiny, and I will be so sad when he outgrows them.

Christmas Pictures

We planned to have our friend take Christmas pictures for us last weekend, but unfortunately her family got the flu! We tried calling other friends, but we had no luck. Finally, we decided just to use our tripod.

It was Sierra's nap time.
There were "prickly things" all over the ground and our big girls were wearing sandals.
The dog loved to run into the picture, but would not sit still or look at the camera... just to set the scene!

Truly, the setting was perfect, but the circumstances not-so-much. Out of 100 shots, I found 1 picture that was ok as a family picture. We used it. I'll post it on Christmas. For now, here are some of the kiddos:

Well, at least they're done! And, I still haven't finished getting them out... tomorrow!

That Christmas Glow

Today was suppose to be day 2 of rain, though we had mostly sunny skies throughout the morning. Rainy days in December are my absolute favorite because of the beautiful glow of the Christmas lights. Here is the view from our front door this afternoon:

The funny thing is, Allison commented, "I'm going to look for a rainbow." She walked right out the front door, then exclaimed in joyous shock; "Mama, Papa, come look... there's the most beautiful rainbow!" And, here was the view from inside:


Now the house is quiet. The girls are all down, and Malachi is cuddled up with his daddy. It's time for me to go send out our Christmas cards!

Going Solo

I survived! 28 hours on my own with my 4 little munchkins... Of course, we didn't go anywhere or do anything special. And, my sweet friend Karen brought us dinner. And, my precious Malachi slept most of the time! And, my aunt came to visit. So, it was a fairly easy day... but I'm still happy to have my hubby home again for 2 more weeks!

Our favorite activity of the day was making coffee filter snowflakes, as demonstrated by my little ninja below:




There's just something magical and timeless about making snowflakes. Every snowflake was filled with anticipation and excitement as we prepared to open it up. It was so fun to see how much my girls enjoyed it! Then came the clean-up...

Of course, this is only a small picture of the mess we made... but it was worth it! I wanted to stay-up last night and blog a little more about our day -- but, I also wanted to clean-up for my husband coming home. The night before he left he stayed-up late making sure the kitchen was clean for me, the garbage was taken out, and I was all set for my solo day. He is the best! So, I made the right choice; I cleaned instead of blogging.

I probably did too well cleaning-up; I need to pretend I am still suffering a bit so I can get away with lounging around a few days longer. :)

Peppermint Playdough

Today marks the end of our 3 weeks of no school. I can hardly believe it's been 3 weeks, already! When asking the girls about school, Allison commented: "I really miss school... but I'm in no hurry to start-up, again!" Ha! I thought that was pretty funny.

Anyway, though we haven't had formal school, we've managed to keep quite busy. Today we decided to make some red and green peppermint-scented playdough in honor of Christmas. I am amazed at how long a fresh batch of playdough can keep them entertained. I am also amazed at how messy the floor gets under my 6-year-old!

We made pretty girls...

Christmas trees...

... more Christmas trees...

And, who knows what!?!? To make the playdough peppermint-scented, I just added a teaspoon of peppermint extract to a simple salt playdough recipe. It smelled deeee-licious!

Oh, how I love playdough!

My son.

I LOVE this picture.
Little Malachi is still little.
Just 10 days old!
But, I know he will change quickly...
Right now he is still so good.
Sleeps ALL the time.
Rarely cries.
(Hope I'm not jinxing it!)
Content to lie on Papa's lap while he does his thing on the computer.
Sweet as can be.
Fits in the tiniest of clothes!
He's a little doll.
He is precious.
I LOVE my son!

Knott's Berry Farm, take 4!

4th Annual Father/ Daughter Knott's Berry Farm trip!

Each year, Daniel takes advantage of the firefighter/ police free admission to Knott's Berry Farm and takes the girls for a day out with dad. (I was especially amazed last year when he took all 3 by himself, with Sierra not even able to walk, yet!) This year it was a bit chilly, but otherwise uncrowded and a perfect day! Since I wasn't there, I'll let the pictures and videos do most of the "talking." I'll just add that the girls were very excited that they got to go on stage for one of the shows to shake "jingle bells."

Tea Party Tuesday

We knew today would come... the day we had to say goodbye to Grandma!
Sleepovers, afternoon movies, trips to the park, tic-tac-toe, Christmas decorating and Christmas crafting, games of Sorry, and so much more! Grandma sure spoils her grandbabies! Last night we played one last round of Sorry...

Luckily, we had a diversion... today was also the girls' Christmas tea party for Keepers of the Home. We spent the morning getting ready:

• snack -- check
• recipe cards -- check
• secret sister gift -- check
• ornament for exchange -- check
• tea cups for the tea party -- check
• Bibles -- check

Allison commented, "It seems like we're packing for a trip!"


I was so sad I wasn't able to go. I am feeling almost normal again, but didn't think it would be wise to bring Malachi. Luckily, our sweet leader just sent me pictures.

Looks like a fun time... and what a perfect distraction from saying goodbye to Grandma!
We miss you, Grandma! Glad you're coming back soon!