Our Annual Little Flowers Mother-Daughter Tea Party

On Saturday afternoon we had our 5th annual Mother-Daughter Tea Party!  (You can find pictures from 2009, 2010, 2011-which was a Marian Tea followed a few months later with a birthday party, and 2012 in the archives.) Since we have been taking a break from Little Flowers this year, having completed all four wreaths, I wasn't planning on having another tea until a dear friend offered to host it at her home the day after her own daughters Mother-Daughter Tea Party, leaving me to just coordinate the guests, food, servers, games, prizes and favors!  It was so incredibly generous of her and her home was decorated beautifully!  Honestly I don't know how she did it, hosting a 3rd large tea party immediately after my groups...   May God bless you and reward you, Stasia!

This year I did ask for a small donation of $5 per family, to help offset the cost of a little hostess gift and tips for the servers.   I provided the napkins, favors, games, and prizes, Stasia kindly provided her home with all the decorations, tea, sugar, cream, lemon slices and place cards,  and each of the other moms was asked to bring one or two of the menu items for this year's Four-Course Tea.

As always we asked all the guests to wear "Victorian Attire" and required Hats and Gloves.  

There were extra hats and gloves available at the door. 

As we waited for all the guests to arrive the girls enjoyed playing Bocce Ball and then we quickly took a few group photos.  Our tea then began with a prayer: 

~ Tea ~

~ The First Course ~

 

After filling all the teacups the servers brought out bowls of Tomato Basil Soup for our first course this year.  Some of the girls loved the soup, others did not, but I thought the soup was a great addition to the tea party! 

Following our first course we had a Mother-Daughter Cupcake Puzzle Race while the servers cleared the soup bowls and prepared for the second course.

~ The Second Course ~

Our second course this year included various sandwiches and appetizers.  It was all delicious, but my favorite was the yummy little Cherry Tomatoes cut in half and filled with a piece of mozzarella and basil.  Yum!  Thankfully none of the other little girls at my table wanted any, so I was able to have plenty! ;)  They did, however, polish off all the little sandwiches. 

Following this course we all headed outside to dance around the Maypole! 

~ The Third Course ~

Our 3rd course this year was the Grapes, Strawberries and Scones with Cream, Lemon Curd and Jam! In past years this has always been our first course, but we switched it around since this course always seems to make a mess out of the plates.   It worked out very well, having it after the sandwiches this year.    

Following this course we played another Indoor Party Game, Little Flowers Bingo! 

~ The Fourth Course ~

Our 4th and final course this year was the desserts.  One of the mom's brought little brownies, another brought gluten-free samoas, and another brought lots of tea type cookies which the servers stacked into towers!

This course concluded our tea and the girls all went outside to play The Game of Graces while the moms helped clear and re-set the tables for the tea party that was following our own.

~ Party Favors ~

In addition to the prizes from the games, each guest was also sent home with a party favor. 

It was such a beautiful day and I am so grateful for the opportunity to create these special memories with my girls! 

St. Therese the Little Flower, Pray for us!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

{pretty}

 I think colored pencils are so pretty!  I especially love them when they have fun names, like "peacock" and "golden beak!" This extra thick set is the Gold Birds Metallic Pencils from eeBoo, and is what Rose has been using to color her Easter Coloring Page.  

{happy}

The big girls were very happy that we were still having our annual Mother-Daughter Tea Party, even though we completed Little Flowers last year.  

The boys were also very happy to serve for the tea, once they found out that three of their friends were willing to help as well.   The $5 tips they each received were definitely an added bonus!

 I heard one of the boys say "We can each get a new mini-figure!!!" 

Yes, they were very happy, and they did an excellent job! 

 

{funny}

The weather has been crazy this week!  On Monday we had grey skies... Rain... Hail... Snow... More rain... Blue Skies... Sunshine... Grey skies... More hail... and then the blue skies came back.   It is sunny (yet still a little chilly today) but thankfully the blue skies are back. I'm hoping they will stick around!  I'm so ready for summer.

The kids did enjoy the hail and all ran outside immediately before I caught them and told them all to "GET BACK INSIDE!!!"  Thankfully it wasn't damaging hail, but still! 

 Later we discussed hail, and all the potential hazards...  ;)

{real}

Where is this poor little boy's momma?!  He fell asleep half way across the tile floor while I was making pizzas for lunch last Friday afternoon for the kids and our visitors.  Poor baby!  I wasn't going to take a picture (proof of what a awful mom I am sometimes!) but my friend insisted.  Don't you just love the drool and his little toes tucked under his bottom.  And that little bruise on his forehead?  Well, he has started banging his head on whatever is closest (including that hard tile floor) when he is upset or doesn't get his way...  I've never had a baby do that before!

In my defense, he doesn't usually fall asleep on the floor.  

I posted proof on Instagram the other night...  ;)

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more pictures of contentment.

Indoor Tea Party Games

In between each course of our tea party, while the servers prepared for the next course, we played party games!  I loved all the suggestions that were shared, but since I ran short on time and since we included some new outdoor activities (Bocce Ball, Maypole, and Graces) this year I opted for a couple favorites from last year's tea party:  the Cupcake Jigsaw Puzzle Race and Little Flowers Bingo.

.: Cupcake Puzzle Race :.

This year for the Cupcake Puzzle Race, instead of using two 100 piece puzzles and having the girls race the mothers, we used six smaller 60-piece Cupcake puzzles and each family worked together on a puzzle (we did have two girls attending without their mother, so they each joined the groups that only had 2 to even out the teams).   

As each group finished I awarded saint medals and crosses to each person! 

.: Little Flowers Bingo :.

Our other favorite is Little Flowers Bingo: Flowers & Gems!   I had brought a basket filled with 13 prizes (one for each girl) and we played until everyone had gotten to choose a prize.   We played various ways - regular Bingo, 4 Corners, etc.  Next time I'll have to add a variation that is just the gemstones, or something like that.  Anyways, if a girl had more than one Bingo I did have a bag of chocolates for additional prizes.  

  

Well this post includes the last of all the games and activities we had during this year's Mother-Daughter Tea Party! I have a busy day ahead, since we are (finally!) signing papers this evening on our home refinance... Still I will try and pop back in soon to share the last of the pictures from the tea, including all the lovely decorations and delicious food.  I hope you all have a blessed day!