Christmas Shindigs

Shindig #1. Some friends of ours blessed us with beautiful Christmas tree this year. I love how the Lord provides when you least expect it. :) So we pulled down the dusty decorations and went to work.These pictures aren't exactly the "cat's meow," if you know what I mean, but they'll have to work. I just had to give you a before and after to show off our tree. :)Richard says the bow makes the tree look like a little girl with an over sized hair accessory...hmm, yeah.

Shindig #2: a tea party for 34 wild and rambunctious soccer girls. Does that sounds scary or does that sound SCARY?? ...it was scary. My brother-in-law Jeremy coaches three soccer teams, so we thought we would have a tea party for them. We separated them into three groups and did it all in one day. Lots of giggles, lots of mutilated chocolate chip scones, lots of glittery dresses. It was fun. Lol, the day definitely had some comedic relief, too. :DHere's part of the first team at 10:00 am.

There's something about a tea party that brings out the feminine side in a girl. Maybe it's the elegant china, the shimmery dresses and curls--it just makes a girl feel like she's a princess.Lots of smile and as Stephen noted afterwards, too many candles. Oh, well, I rather liked them. :) Besides, it added a little jump in the day when one of the girls started burning her napkin in an obliging tea candle. LOL, other than that little episode and a gift bag being slightly singed, it was ok.The mastermind behind the whole production. I think this picture was during one of the "Christmas pictionary" games. Those were hysterical to watch!! One girl was trying to depict "shepherd" and got everything from "Santa and caterpillars!" to "Sheepman!" The judges decided that "sheepman" would be ok since it was in the general vicinity of "shepherd." LOL, so cute. :)The end of the first tea was only the beginning. We cleared the tables, washed the tea cups, and redecorated the tables for the next group. One funny moment, though, was finding a plate with a pile of chocolate chips on it. Some girl had carefully picked all the chips out of her scone. LOL! I don't know what was so funny about it...maybe just thinking about all the time spent carefully dissecting a hapless scone. Or maybe it was something that just tickled the funny bone of a frazzled, very tired person. :DThe second team. This time we streamlined the tables a bit more and renewed the supply of tea candles.

This little girl was so cute. And this caption is so boring. :)

The third and final team. By this time, I was pretty much beat with a cold and a lot of running around, so I didn't really hang around after the girls got there. I heard it went well, and from the squeals and giggles coming through the hall door, I figured as much. The tea for all those 34 girls was worth the work and sweat and tears. The Lord brought the whole day together in such a special way and really poured out His blessings. God is good."Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people." Luke 1:68