Afternoon Tea Party

Zoe's birthday was last week and I had promised her a birthday party.  You see, I was great at having birthday parties for her in the past.  She had a Pink Poodles in Paris first birthday party, a Circus themed second birthday and the mother of all parties, an ice cream sundae parlor themed party for her third birthday. After that third birthday, I was exhausted.

The following year, for her fourth, we were in Texas visiting family, so we had a pool party at my dad's house and bought Hello Kitty party supplies.  I got off really easy on that one.

Last year, for her fifth, we had just moved overseas and were still staying in temporary lodging.  It was very low-key.  I bought a few tinker bell decorations to hang while she was sleeping so she could feel a little special when she awakened the next morning.  It wasn't a great celebration as we were busy trying to find a house, still without all of our things, and essentially homeless.

This year I promised she could have a party.  We settled on a tea party theme (what better theme when in England?) and went to work.  From the moment we moved into our house last summer, I envisioned a garden tea party out amongst the flowers with twinkling fairy lights hanging from trees.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.

Even though we had to cram five little girls and their mothers indoors, I think the party went well and Zoe had a great time!

Here is the invitation I made using Photoshop with all of the personal information blocked out:

I made place cards using Photoshop as well:

Luckily, there are loads of antique and second-hand stores here and I was able to find tea trios for fairly cheap, so I purchased one for each girl for about £5 ($7.50) per set.

 In order to make all of the chairs uniform, I found some Cath Kidston pillow cases on ebay and used them as chair covers.  The bows came from The Range.

The bunting hanging on the cabinet was also purchased at The Range.

The paper lanterns and plastic tablecloth came from Oriental Trading (thankfully, I ordered them back in June, because they took almost two months to get here in the mail)

 The cookies were made by a local baker- a military wife with a phenomenal talent.

The plates and napkins came from Oriental Trading as well.

When the party was going to be outdoors, I had planned to set up a blue backdrop with a bunting on it and let the girls dress up and have a photo booth.  Since the party had to be moved indoors, I had the bucket of supplies on the side in case someone wanted to wear something.  They really didn't wear anything during the party, but after the party was over, everyone picked something from the bucket and I took them outside for a group shot. (it had stopped raining).  I do not have the permission of any of the girls' parents to post their photo, so just know it is cute, but will not be included in this post.

The paper bunting came from Oriental trading too.  It was supposed to be a cake topper but looked silly on the cake, so I decided to prop it up as a backdrop for the tea.  Just an hour before the party started, I was trying to figure out how to make them stand up when I remembered I had pink and white pearl cupcake sprinkles, so I poured them in wine glasses to anchor the bunting.  The tea I served was regular black tea, rose, Earl Grey and an herbal tea for our caffeine-free guests.

I had scones with lemon curd, raspberry preserve or strawberry wine preserves along with shortbread biscuits and homemade pound cake and lemon cookies.  On the sandwich tray, I had nutella sandwiches (the ONLY sandwich apart from pb&j that Zoe will eat), turkey sandwiches and chicken salad with fresh dill using greek yogurt in place of mayonnaise.

 The same girl that made the cookies also made the cake.

Each girl took two cookies and a china trio home as her party favor.

 I loved this photo I captured of Zoe blowing out her candles.  I blurred the girl in the background's face as I do not have permission to post it.

It was no ice cream party, but I think as a whole, it went well, and Zoe was pleased.

I hope to get back into blogging more soon and apologize to my friends and family that are keeping up with us through my blog.  The problem I have run into is that the best time for me to blog is at night and our internet is so slow at night, that it isn't worth it.  I just sat here for over an hour while the above photos loaded.  And now it is past 11pm and I have to get up in the morning.  The internet is considerably faster during the daytime, but I don't have much time for blogging during the day.  Again, my apologies- I hope to figure it out and start blogging more so my family back in the US can follow our adventures.

You Can't Handle the Truth!

Last week, while getting the kids ready for school, we all found ourselves in the bathroom at once.  I was trying to tame Noah's hair while Zoe was brushing her teeth when I spotted something on the wall. Closer inspection revealed it was poop.

Poop.

On. The. Wall.

I don't have babies or toddlers anymore- my children are school-aged.  An inquisition began.

"OH DISGUSTING!  I DIDN'T DO THAT!!", my OCD son practically screamed at me.

All eyes turned to Zoe (the five-year-old).

She looked dumbfounded (and I suspect she really didn't know how it got on the wall).

And where normally she would throw accusations back at her brother resulting in yelling, fighting and tears that I have not consumed enough caffeine to tolerate at 7am, Zoe decided to keep life interesting.

"You know what probably happened?"

(thinking this should be good) "What 'probably happened' ?"

"Well, you know how you like to leave the bathroom window open?  Well, I think that one of those pigeons that poop all over the backyard probably came inside and pooped on the wall and then went back out."

I stand corrected.  I have much more serious things to worry about in the mornings than fighting children and a lack of caffeine.

Swooping, pooping ninja-like pigeons that sneak in the house through opened windows and poop sideways on the wall.

I am going to go with that, because I probably can't handle the truth of how poop really got on my bathroom wall.

And, just in case, I think I am going to shut the bathroom window.

Confections and Messiahs

In Sunday School, they taught us that Jesus performed miracles- water into wine, walking on water and raising Lazarus from the dead to name the highlights.  Now, if you ask me, getting Lazarus to come out of that tomb alone is a huge miracle.  I can't even get my kids to come downstairs when I call them and Jesus casually sashayed up to Lazarus' tomb four days after he died, called his name and out he came.  Whoa...

I digress.

My intention here is to tell you about a miracle that was performed on Thursday.  You see, Noah had an expander placed in his mouth on Tuesday evening and has been in quite a bit of pain ever since. (side note- but funny nonetheless- when the dentist pulled out the expander, Noah took one look at it and proclaimed, "That looks like an instrument of medieval torture.") Because of his pain, he was unable to eat on Wednesday.  I sent a Carnation Instant Breakfast to school for lunch and we had to make him a protein shake for dinner. Thursday morning, he insisted he was still in too much pain and had another instant breakfast drink and asked for one in his lunchbox as well.

Thursday afternoon, I received an email from his teacher informing me that Noah was feeling better because he had just eaten a chocolate chip cookie.  Amazing.  When faced with a sweet, brown-sugar based treat, Noah was healed!

Healed!

By a chocolate chip cookie!

I asked Noah if Jesus made the cookies.  He looked at me half-confused and half-annoyed and said that his teacher made them.

I know the new Pope is considered a bit liberal but I doubt the Vatican will be receptive of my news that they have it all wrong and that there is a fourth grade teacher in England performing miracles...

...or that miracles are being handed out by chocolate chip cookies.

Not missing the opportunity to find the greater good in things, I am now left to ponder if chocolate chip cookies are holy.

If cookies are the new host then I am happy to report that I commune with God A LOT!

Like, I think I could be a holy figurehead I commune so much.

Saint Jennifer- High Priestess of Holy Confections.

And making things all about me.

Because the reality is, Noah was miraculously healed yesterday!

All hail the chocolate chip cookie!

Amen?

Air Force Families

The wonderful thing about the Air Force life is that goodbyes are not always goodbye- all too often, they are "see ya later".  No matter where the Air Force takes you,  you almost always cross paths with someone you have met before- or a friend of a friend.  It is a big ole family.

I was in New Jersey so long I went through three full cycles of friends that left me and then, finally, it was my turn to leave.  Although, I left behind a wonderful sweet friend (Karyn) that I miss dearly- I can only hope that the Air Force will bring us back together one day too.

I met Claudia when her husband was deployed with mine and we were both pregnant with our first children.  We soon formed a friendship and our boys were born only six weeks apart and were each others' first best friends.  My son was cranky, cried all the time and never slept.  Her son was happy, slept and a dream.  She was concerned I had post partum depression and finally talked me into going to a playgroup on base when Noah was almost a year old.  That is where I also met Amber, Catherine, Lucy, Jennifer, Becca, Sarah Jane and Marlana.  They had also just had their first children who were about a year younger than mine and Claudia's boys.  I only saw these ladies weekly at playgroup but remained close to Claudia, having playdates at the house with the boys and getting the whole families together at each others' houses for dinner, barbecues and just hanging out.

So, when Claudia's husband got orders the summer our boys were turning three, I was devastated.  The rest of my first cycle of friends had just left and Claudia was all I had left.  Claudia was neighbors with Amber and Amber was having a scrapbooking party.  I had no interest in scrapbooking but Claudia insisted I go to the party- she was trying to take care of me and insert me into a new friend group.  What a great friend- she was worried about me and didn't want to leave me friendless.  I started hanging out with the other ladies and gradually started scrapbooking.

Over the next few years, these ladies became my best friends.  We spent many late nights at each other's houses scrapbooking, bouncing advice, fears and concerns about things like breastfeeding, potty training, biting, and other parenting issues as well as deployment frustrations off of each other. We relied on each other doing simple mundane things- like meeting each other at the post office so one could babysit the minivans in the parking lot while the other ran in to mail packages without kids, strollers and diaper bags. These were the ladies that surprised me with a baby shower when I was pregnant with Zoe because I wasn't going home to Texas to have one. These were also the ladies that quietly prayed after Zoe had her stroke and got together to make a "Welcome Home Zoe" sign and put it on my front door with balloons the day Zoe was released from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Lucy left first, then Marlana, then Jennifer followed by Catherine and finally Amber.  Sarah Jane's husband separated from the military and was still in the area, but we saw less and less of her as she adapted to civilian life and lived an hour away from the base.  Becca and I were left behind but Becca completed her schooling and got a full time job and we lost touch.

When we received orders last spring to England, I was ecstatic.  Catherine is in England, Jennifer is in Germany and Amber is in Italy.  We decided we MUST have a "Jersey Girl Reunion".  Alas, Jennifer's husband's job does not allow a lot of flexibility, so she was not able to participate.  Amber is leaving for her next assignment in June, so Catherine and I got together one cold, dreary day in February and booked plane tickets to Italy!  Our trip was this past weekend.

It was absolutely beautiful in northern Italy!  The weather was great, the scenery beautiful but the friendship was phenomenal.  It seemed as if time had never passed and was great to be together again.  That very same weekend, Becca (who has now moved on to another assignment somewhat close to Marlana- whose husband separated a few years ago and has moved to their forever home) and Marlana got together as well back in the US.

So, without further ado, here are some pictures of our fabulous Italian weekend.  Don't worry, Jennifer, Catherine and I were already discussing tentative plans for Germany next year to see you!

Lake Barcis

 We hosted Flat Stanley for a family in Texas and I took him to Italy with me.  Here are my friend's boys holding Stanley at the Italian market.

 **snicker**  These were incense sticks for sale at the market- they had cannabis scented ones.  It made me laugh. (NO- I did NOT buy any).

 Pasta with curry sauce- oh my goodness, it was SO GOOD!

 Gorgazzo underwater cave

Stanley holding British money (a £5 note and a £1 coin)

Stanley holding Euro (for his Italian shopping needs- a 20 Euro note and a 1 Euro coin)

Stanley on the train to Venice

 Venice!!  (Venezia)

Piazza San Marco (St Mark's Square)- it is not uncommon for this square to be ankle-deep in water. They even have floating sidewalks they put out when the water floods the square. This past fall, though, there were pictures circulating of the square waist-deep in water. 

The flooded square (this image is not mine- I got it from the internet- here)

 Bridge of Sighs

Grand Canal

This is my favorite photo I took all weekend:

 my lunch: gnocchi- yum!

 Stanley visiting the American base in Italy- I took a picture because look at the beautiful mountains towering over the base!

The church in Amber's town

The view out the window of our plane as we taxied away from the Venice airport, England-bound. 

Zoe's souvenir- a Carnivale mask (she loves cats) made in Italy

Noah's souvenir

I feel so fortunate to have friends literally all over the world!  It is somewhat comforting to know that wherever we may go next, chances are high, I will see a familiar face there!  I love my Air Force family!

Oh- and Claudia (whom I mentioned earlier in this post) has just messaged me in the past few weeks to tell me they will arrive in England this fall!   

More Conversations in Our House

Conversation last night: ( background- the British don't refrigerate their eggs. They are on the regular shelves in the grocery store and they keep them out at home.  Also, our British refrigerator is TINY and I have a hard time finding places to keep everything)




ME: I think we are going to start handling the eggs the British way and leaving them out.  They take up too much room in the fridge and I need that space.

DJ: Okay.... but...

ME: They don't even refrigerate them in the store.

DJ: I know it is fine, but they DO stay fresh longer in the fridge.

ME:  The date on the eggs I bought today is 20 May.  That is plenty of time to eat them.

DJ:  Well okay, but if they start hatching....

ME:  They are organic free range, so I guess that is possible...

ME: ... but you know what it means if they hatch?

DJ: baby chicks?

ME:  No!  BONUS- CHICKEN DINNER!


I know.. we're bad.

Earth Day

New Jersey was pretty serious about recycling.  It was actually a law that you must recycle there- you could be fined if you were caught not recycling.  We had a large bucket-style bin in which we placed all cans, glass and plastics (numbered 1 and 2) and we also had a large lidded bin (like a garbage bin) for paper and cardboard.  Recyclables were collected every other week and garbage was collected twice a week, every week.  Also, it is worth it to note, that the garbage men would take whatever you had on the curb next to your bin.

In England, they are serious about recycling too, but it is different.  They are so serious about recycling that they inadvertently make it mandatory by only picking up your garbage every other week.  And, they will not take anything that does not fit into your garbage bin.  So, if you don't recycle, you will be overloaded with garbage.  We have a black garbage bin and a green recycle bin.  Plastics, paper, cardboard and cans can be placed in the green bins, but not glass.

  There is a separate large recycle container (dumpster) at the village hall for dumping glass.

Our recycle bins are picked up on alternating weeks with the garbage bin being picked up on the recycle off week.  We also have small gray bins- a really small one for under the sink...

 ...and a slightly larger (but still small) one for outside.

These gray bins require compostable liners and are for food waste.  I can put leftovers, vegetable peelings, bones, eggshells, coffee grounds and tea bags in them.  Once the small container under the sink starts filling up- or starts to smell foul- I can remove the bag and place it in the bin outside.

This gray bin is collected EVERY week.  It's brilliant, really.  I really like the concept of the kitchen waste caddy as it seems- without garbage disposals in the sinks- I dump out a lot of food.

Finally, even though this is not related to recycling it is still about conserving energy and therefore relevant, I wanted to talk about the wall outlets here in England.  In America, we were always being told to save energy by unplugging items from the wall while not in use.  It makes sense, and it helps, but, let's face it, I don't have time (or maybe I am too lazy) to go around unplugging everything every day when I leave the house.  It just isn't going to happen.  And that is why I LOVE the way England handles this.  Each outlet has a switch that can be turned off and on.

When you need to use that outlet, simply flip the switch to on and when you are done, flip it back off.  Again- brilliant!

And if this whole informational post bored you- here is a previous Earth Day post about the time Zoe locked me out of the house on recycle day.  She was two at the time.


Happy Earth Day!