The kids knew that we were planning on a tea party in the afternoon, so as I worked on something else, two of them set the table with a blue cloth and prepared the treats. They artistically arranged Girl Scout cookies, Trader Joe’s Oreo-style cookies, truffles, and Andes mints on plates and pulled silk flowers out of the storage cabinet for a centerpiece.
The small white pot with flowers was filled with milk for the younger kids (we ran out of apple juice, which is, in our opinion, the ideal tea-substitute). For the one young tea-drinker in the family and me, they brewed a pot of PG Tips, currently my favorite black tea (a British import available at our Kroger grocery store–a little pricey, but imo, it’s worth it).Over the years, my mom has located these gorgeous Royal Albert teacups in the birthday months of the kids:
October’s flower is cosmos.
Boy, is that out of focus. Well, December is decorated with holly and a Christmas rose.
April’s flower: sweet peas. And the owner of the April cup is a sweet pea.We had a lovely tea, complete with British accents, slow sipping, and gentle reminders not to talk when one is crunching a Thin Mint. We also discovered that the Trader Joe’s version of an Oreo cookie, along with a truffle or two, turns one’s teeth black like soot.A lovely effect for a tea party.A bit like the Addams family, perhaps?Too bad I didn’t get a picture.(Then again, maybe it’s just as well.)
Monday FunDay (week 7)–Tea Party
I’m a little late with my Monday FunDay post. I’m still in the post-retreat Slow Zone (sigh). Please accept my apologies. Welcome to:
Monday FunDay
What? You didn’t know about Monday FunDay? Why, it’s a carnival dedicated to swapping simple, amusing–maybe even silly–everyday ways you enjoy good, clean fun.Just post a story, idea, or explanation at your blog of how you and/or your family has livened up Mondays (or any day).Then link up via Mr. Linky below (if you don’t have a blog, simply explain your idea in the comments) and we’ll collect all the ideas in one place. Again, please remember: ideas must be squeaky-clean, family-friendly fun.Today’s Monday Fun at the Kroekers’:The weekend of slowing down, relaxing, and retreating included lots of tea. All that sipping and chatting felt like an extended tea party.My Monday FunDay suggestion is just that:Host a tea party!With friends…or family…or both!A few months ago, I posted about slowing down my fast-paced world, including a YouTube video.Then, clever Jenni of One Thing, took off on that idea and threw together a spontaneous tea party–she cut flowers from her garden, baked some goodies, pulled out the good china, spread a lovely tablecloth on the dining room table, and her kids and she had a great time laughing and nibbling and telling stories. Scroll down that post of hers to see their pictures. Clearly, they were having some great fun.Be sure to visit Monday FunDay participant Toni at This Simple Life, as well, to see the Happy Un-Birthday party her kids threw together all on their own. Inspired by that scene from the Disney version of “Alice in Wonderland,” they set aside muffins for the event, made paper hats, played games, and sang ”Have a Very Merry Un-Birthday” with gusto.Tea–with or without the Mad Hatter–sounds like a perfect Monday FunDay activity for us this afternoon, so that’s my plan: A tea party in the dining room.My party preparations will be pretty humble. I’ll have to use a fake flower arrangement, but I’ve got plenty of real teacups (coincidentally, I own the exact same “April” teacup that Jenni photographed–it’s the last one with all the used teabags piled up on the saucer). And I’ll probably just pull out Girl Scout cookies. Homemade options are great, and if I have time, I might throw together some muffins. And anything with Nutella slathered all over it will taste like a party–perhaps we’ll slice a banana and use some toothpicks with those colorful party fluffs on the end to spear them and dip them in a bowl of that yummy hazelnut-chocolate spread.(pause with me if you will for a Nutella moment)At any rate, the fun is not only in the tea and snacks and Nutella, but also in the conversation as we laugh, practice decent table manners and “catch” each other when we’re a little less civilized.We might even read about the Mad Tea party in Alice in Wonderland and try a riddle or two.What will you do for fun today?
Instructions for the WordPress Mr. Linky (which is different than the ones you’ll see on WFMW and other Typepad or Blogspot blogs):1. Write your post. Type up your Monday FunDay edition and post it at your blog.2. Come back to this post and click on Mr. Linky. A window will pop up.3. Type in your name (or blog name) and if you like, you can include a short “teaser” for your idea in parenthesis. Something like this:
Ann K (Tea Party)
3. Paste in your url. Below the spot for your name, there’s another for the url of your own post. Copy the url for your own Monday FunDay and paste it in (including the http:// part of it).4. Press Enter. That’s it! It should be saved by Mr. Linky.To see what others have posted, click on Mr. Linky and pay a visit to the fun bloggers who have joined in!It’s fun to have fun, but you have to knowCheck out previous Monday FunDay posts and be sure to click on Mr. Linky and visit other people’s blogs to read their own fun ideas (last week, everybody was having fun with the Ultimate Blog Party, so there are no offerings, but be sure to check out previous weeks).
** UPDATED: I’m off a week–it’s actually week 8. **
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