The 3 rules of real estate: Location, location, location...THE primo consideration for all real estate...including plots for playhouses! Just ask the Romantic Mom...she knows all about prime real estate....especially for playhouses!

And so did my friend, Karyn, who really needed the big oak tree behind the playhouse freed up for large wooden swings and lovely focal points...truly a romantic mom after my own heart...

Heather is already becoming quite the little seamstress! She's got her new sewing machine all threaded and is going strong. If she can just remember to put that presser foot down....and after enough tangles....she'll get it! The levels of concentration in the room are truly staggering to behold...

Yes, to a Tea...as in Par-Tea. Do you like the girls' tea bag? I LOVE this tea bag...basket...hamper...call it what you will. We are on the topic of 'Tea' today...as in Garden Tea....Birthday Tea...Tea Party...and I'll tell you why. My youngest of little chicks is no longer going to remain my little scrumptious 4 yo any longer. No...choke, choke...sob!!! She's turning 5 WHOLE YEARS OLD next week. My BAAAABBBBYYYYYYY!!!!!! I went through these exact same hysterics last year. Don't even ask me what I'll do next year! I'll tell you what, though...it ain't gonna be pretty!!

So, now that I've gotten that out of my system...sorta....I'll tell you what my scrumptious still 4 yo chick for another week said. She very sweetly informed us in her quaint little straight forward, grown-uppish manner...that only a little 4 yo can accomplish with such....such...cuteness...for serious lack of any other original witty way of describing it at the moment! Sorry. I'm still too aghast at my BABY TURNING 5 WHOLE YEARS OLD to come up with wonderfully clever witticisms at the moment.

Anyhoooo, she sweetly informed us that she "wanted a Tea Party for my Birthday....a gah-den tea pah-ty." Emphasis on the gah-den.

And that was it. No more explanations. No more descriptions. No rattling on and on about colors, accoutrements, clothing, decor...like her sisters...and her mother... most certainly would be doing for the next 25 1/2 hours non-stop. That's all she said.

So... Garden Tea Party it 'tis.  And Garden Tea Party it 'twill be!!
So be it. Alleluia. Amen.

Here comes the fun part. OK. I hear ya...everything is fun about a Tea Party...especially a garden tea party!! You are SOOOO absolutely right about that. As always!

We have taken these fun photos...one of which...is to be used as the photo for the invitations. However, due to my distraught  near-emotional-collapse frame of mind over my BABY IS TURNING 5 WHOLE YEARS OLD, the brain is shutting down. I can't seem to make any sort of a coherent decision here. So I'm begging you...for all that is romantic...and all that is sweet...and all that is totally to a Garden Birthday for a 5 yo TEA....help me PLEASE make a decision!

La Question Du Jour: Which photo do I use for the Garden Tea Party Invitations...???????????? Which one is your favorite???????? Which one says "I'm turning 5 yo and I'm having a gah-den tea pah-ty"...the best?????

For starters, it's NOT the one above. We'll eliminate the "Doing push-ups in a prairie bonnet" or "Did you lose your contact??" photo now. Let's begin with the following:

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 1

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 2

NOTE: I know that prairie bonnets are not generally what might be considered typical 'Tea Party' attire...but it's what they had on at the time. And I didn't have the energy to go make everyone change clothes into generally accepted typical 'Tea Party' attire.

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 3

NOTE: Tilted teapot / straight basket

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 4

NOTE: Tilted basket / straight teapot

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 5

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 6

Note: Without the fingers - Landscape (horizontal)

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 7

Note: Without the fingers - Vertical



And you just thought that was it! Now we've added the purple-pink azalea blooms to the mix....

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 8

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 9

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 10

Note: Vertical

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 11

Note: Landscape

Garden Tea Party Invite for scrumptious 4 yo turning 5: Take 12

Note: Without fingers

Whew! Now I must confess something about photos or 'Takes 10, 11, 12'....in that....well...ummm...the water from the flowers tipped over and spilled onto the yellow cloth...and that's why the azalea flower is lying on the cloth. I was trying to detract from... or camouflage the big water mark....is it working??? Did anyone notice???

So now take your pick, please, and let me know which one just jumped out at you...in a good way! Obviously. And critique away. Or tell me if you think I totally need to start from scratch. Thanks for all your help!! xxx

Girlhood and Springtime seem naturally meant for each other, don't they? These are some lovely romantic images of girlhood culled from my dusty stack of vintage Victoria magazines....from sometime around 1993 and '94. That can't be like...15 years ago...can it??? Say it isn't so!

Springtime is great for barefoot boys, too...and always sweet chubby babies! But we'll save them for their own day in the Spring sunshine. Today we'll just soak in our most nostalgically wonderful girlhood memories...

And perhaps dream up a few more! Some 15 or 16 years ago when I first happened onto these beautiful images, I didn't even have children...including a son and 3 darling daughters of my own! Oh! The blessings that time does bring!

It just so happens that Girlhood Home Companion has come out with their new Spring edition now! Yay! Jill Novak speaks to all our romantic girlhood notions...I would even dare to say almost better than vintage Victoria! I can't wait to get this Springtime inspiration for birthdays this May and June! They've also added a Tea Cozy club and Happy Trails Horse club ...plus a blog!...to their delightful mix. So go be inspired... and swept away into beautiful girlhood once again! xxx

Beautiful Spring weather has gotten our kiddos into lots of ambitious 'cooking' and 'baking' al fresco...serving up some delicious recipes...as you can tell...

A nice hearty soup with lots of...uhhhhh...herbs.... and veggies (??!)...



And some 'rustic' loaves of bread to go along...pumpernickel perhaps...??? Sure looks yummy, huh!! I'm sure you'd LOVE the recipes, however they're rather spontaneous in their cooking...sort of adding whatever sounds good at the moment...hmmm....sort of like their parents!! : D

"You can take the girl out of Texas...

But you just can't....

Take the Texas out of the girl!"

- Old Texas Proverb

How young is too young to start stitchin'...?? Perhaps when they can control the urge to stick everything in the mouth, is a good barometer as to when to start! My little ones started out with the thick plastic needles and some burlap with yarn for the thread. You can also use those flat plastic mats with the little squares that come in various shapes and forms.  I also found some little sewing kits with the pre-punched holes in felt for making butterflies, purses, pillows, etc. that include all the beads and baubles to go along. Did we actually ever finish any one of those projects? Um, no. But they did get much practice making huge tangled weird messes with a needle and yarn...and believe me, that was just as satisfying!

However, by the time children reach age 5 or 6, they seem to become much more interested in the 'real deal'... forget the chunky, dull plastic thing...give me a real needle that's really sharp and shiny and some real thread, please Mommy. And also give me something that's really 'work' to do, too. My children are just not as convinced that the contrived, brightly colored crafty things aimed at kids are all they're cracked up to be...or as incredibly cute as their mother thinks they are. In their sheer desperation and determination to get to use a real needle and thread in the first place, they may sort of go along with the cutesy-crafty thing, but most of it, I have to admit, is either too silly or too complicated and just is not 'real work' like grown-ups do. At least that's the expounding sentiment I've gotten in my household!

So let's just give 'em some real mending to do! Somewhere around late 4, 5 or 6, they can begin to handle this kind of thing (age 4 you might want to transition with the metal yarn needles that are larger and not so sharp). Just make sure that you keep an eye on where they put their needles down...absent-mindedness is still an issue here...which I suppose never really changes with time, I'm afraid. Mending certainly falls into the 'real work' category and, once they get the hang of it, this saves mom eons of time in doing all the mending and button sewing that remains a constant in any household with ready-made clothing these days.

We have plenty of leggings, socks, tights, undies, and missing buttons to keep any industrious child with a desperate urge to use a needle and thread in worthwhile bliss for hours! Small mending projects are great for many reasons: 1.) most are short and simple for lagging attention spans, 2.) it's pretty difficult to mess anything up too much, 3.) it's useful 'work' that grown-ups even have to do 4.) there's a fulfilling sense of accomplishment in a job well-done...without a huge amount of time and effort, and 5.) this is a biggie, they actually get to wear things they haven't worn in months because mommy never gets around to mending it!

So all in all, I say mending and button sewing is a win-win situation all the way around! And for some more creative ideas for kiddos with needle and thread check out this and this, this and this,...oh and this. I see your contented smiles already!