tea party and other fun trivia

In two days my sweet Miss C turns five...did you hear that!? FIVE! I'm not sure how this came to be, but she assures me that under no circumstance can I convince her to go back to four. Sigh.

Truly, I love watching her change and grow and learn and live and delight. I am pleased to see her arriving at five years old. Hopefully, in two day's time I will manage to find the right words to share what is on my heart about her. And if not, it will simply get done late.

For her party this year, we went all-out girly and had a "Fancy Nancy" Tea Party (inspired, not themed). Here she is at the end of a long day, hair skewered, posing with her presents (we took about 8 or 9 pictures, this being one of the last...they were funny to watch! And of course, the best one is on my camera phone, not available for posting.)

I ran into a bit of a stress-act that day since John had worked past midnight the previous two nights which limited the help he could offer, Little B had a party to go do that morning, I had not finished buying food for the party, the icing wasn't made, the floor still needed mopping, the streamers were not done, and I had visions of perfection.

Perfection did not happen. It did get done, however, once reinforcements arrived...and fun reigned. I found getting ready with friends helping to be WAY more fun and so much easier. I think next time I'll ask a friend to come help beforehand and their kid can keep my kid busy. It's handy that my friends' kids are my kids' friends.

I also believe in simple parties - Miss C had two guests and two grandmas (we kicked out all the dads, brothers and grandpas). Less clean up, fewer gifts, more personal time. I love it. And with all the grandness she deserved!

There was an ice cream pinata filled with stickers, bubbles, rings, bracelets, etc. (I loathe the $10 bags of candy that isn't yummy and mostly gets tossed out anyway); there was an old-fashioned pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey; there was make-up and nail polish; and of course there was a fancy tea party (complete with Country Time Pink Lemonade instead of tea).

Here, I present you with my fabulous idea for all the old formals that needed purging from my attic: chair covers.

And for a bit of trivia:
That highly out-dated blue dress a the end of the table, the one that Miss C is sitting on above...that was my Senior Prom dress...and my prom date was none other than the man I married! I SO did not see that coming on that long ago (rainy, awkward) evening. The dress was a bridesmaid dress reworked by a friend's talented mom. And while it was not so snazzy, I had visions of Cinderella, I really did (yes, at 18 years old...hush). Poofy sleeves, shimmery blue...sigh. (My daughter had the same vision when she saw it for the first time - and I didn't have to make the suggestion!) Fast forward a few years and my then-prom-date, now serious relationship/fiance (don't remember if this was before or after our engagement) boldly tells me he didn't like that blue dress from prom and I'd have looked better in black (that was SO not the point, though...and Cinderella didn't wear black, right?). When we were planning our wedding, I made him preview my wedding dress because I told him there was no way he'd tell me a decade later that he didn't really like it. (He claimed to like it then, and so far he has not disputed that....my very own Prince Charming.)