Tea party for Leah

Leah is turning 5 tomorrow. She has been talking about and planning a tea party since she turned 4. It was wonderful. I was totally shocked at how quiet and relaxed and "tame" the party was. You see, I was prepared for what I have always experienced, boys' parties. We have had lots of them and by the end of the party, I am hot, tired and worn out. This totally took me by surprise. Not to say that the boys' parties aren't fun, because they are loads of fun! But this was soooo different :) If you have a girl, I am certain you know what I mean and have been keeping it secret from me all of this time. Probably better that way!

The girls dressed up with accessories...scarves, earring, necklaces, purses and then got their pictures taken. Then we had our tea...delicate china tea cups, fancy gloves, lots of delicious treats, and blueberry tea or pink lemonade. The lemonade was a big hit. Everyone ate with their gloves on, at least to start.

Leah is not a big fan of cake I have learned. Since we were having fancy tea...I decided to make petit fours. If you want to know about the whole experience of actually making them, you'll have to ask me about it sometime. Anyways, she got 5 individual petit fours, with her name spelled out and the number "5" on the last one...we put candles in them for her to blow out.

She was thrilled with the whole day. When she talked about her party while we were preparing, she made reference to "when my girls come....I'm going to..." or "I will show this to my girls" or "Let's get out these pretty dresses for my girls".

After tea and cakes, we played games and did crafts-

Pin the butterfly on the flower

Relay race to set the table for tea

Sticker hunt

Make and decorate a fan

Bracelets

I just can't believe how grown-up our little girl is getting!

I have posted MANY pictures of her party to snapfish. There is a link in my sidebar to the photos.

Much Progress

Leah's room is coming along very quickly. Almost all of the sewing is done. Above are the Roman shades...one up, one down. Let me just say that I LOVE sewing soft fold Roman shades. They are by far my favorite window covering to sew...so simple and so effective. I am actually considering sewing them for the 10 windows in my sunroom! I know, I'm probably crazy, but they seem to be the best solution and they are so easy! (did I already mention that?)
Here is a before shot of Leah's vanity stool. It opens up and has storage under the seat. I think originally it was a sewing seat.

I was torn between wrapping the fabric around the bottom of the seat, like it was before, but thanks to the urging of a friend, and the girlyness of all things ruffly, I went with the ruffle around the bottom. I just attached the seat back over the ruffles. I put a very generous piece of foam on the seat, but it was such a low seat to begin with, that when you sit on it at the vanity, it actually brings your face just to the right height. Well, I like it, but more importantly, Leah loves it. Really I think she is a bit overwhelmed by all of the stuff going on, but she is having a great time with each new thing that happens in her room!

Lastly, Dennis and I have finished the window seat. I really can't imagine this part of the room being any other way. It fits so naturally in this nook. The storage underneath is for her many stuffed animal friends. I made the two pillows already, but am waiting to get a piece of foam long enough to cover a cushion for the bench.
I can forsee many hours of her childhood sitting on this bench, reading and playing make-believe with her animals.

My little baby girl is so growing up...

Shades of Blue

These are the fabrics I am using in Leah's room. The walls are the light blue on the paint chip. The bottom fabric will be the cushion cover for her vanity seat. The next up is the Roman Shade fabric (they are almost all done!), next up is the cushion cover for her window seat (which Dennis has made, but I am still painting), and isn't the top fabric adorable? It is the illustrations from some of those old Golden Books with the little girl and boy! Leah loves those books...Fix it Please is one of her favorites. Anyways, i will make some throw pillows proably for her window seat. And the window seat, it will be painted the middle shade of blue on the paint chip.

Lots of sewing to do.

More painting still....thanks to my wonderfully talented husband, the window seat is beautiful and I just can't image the space without it after seeing it there now.

I am so enjoying blessing our children by creating fun and exciting spaces for them in our house.

Something's Growing...
Leah's room is painted a pretty blue. She is using an inherited mahogany bedroom set from my grandmother. I have fond memories of this dressing table in my Nana's room...sitting and going through her earrings and jewelry, trying them on... The stool is a yard sale find...plans are in the making to re-cover the seat. In the meantime a seed was planted in the corner and it started to grow....

and grow.....

and it stretched its branches all the way onto the ceiling!

It grew leaves and I found a little girl in the coolness of its shade

Some birds have made their homes in the branches...

I think it is here to stay!

Boys will be boys!

This post is not meant to imply that I am in any way unhappy with my boys...I love all that makes them boys and all of the energy they bring to our house...

We are in the process of moving Leah (the last bedroom move) into the boys' old room. My first task (once the furniture was moved out) was to fill the holes in the walls. I expected the normal amount of holes from picture frames and such, but what I found was eye-opening! I filled so many dinks and nicks and holes in the walls it was unbelievable. I can't say for certain what they actually did in that room that caused the wear and tear on the walls....maybe flying matchbox cars...or lego wars....or...who knows??!! Also there were many places where little artists and contraband sharpies got together and made their marks on the walls as well. **Gasp!***These were no surprise to me, but I still had to deal with them.

There was a day before children when Dennis and I were house-hunting and we entered a vacant house and the walls had writing on them, the paint was nicked and smudged dirt evident. It was clear that children lived in that house, and I remember wondering how a parent could ever let that happen. I mean, the destruction seemed appalling! As I was filling the holes and covering the sharpie scribbles I was reminded of that house. And now I know, and if you have children, you probably do too. I am sure that not every kid damages the walls like our kids do (I know for a fact that I did not, nor did my brother as children) but for whatever reason, ours do. And I'm not worried about it. The boys play hard and have a ton of fun. I know that God must be at work in me, because for such a controlling person like myself to let this go it truly is amazing!

Nothing that a little paint won't cover up!

Teaser warning: the room is now blue and has something growing in the corner