Neighborhood Tea

Have you every thought of hosting a neighborhood tea?

Tonight I hosted a neighborhood tea, my 3rd since living in this house. The first two years we lived here I had one w/10 ladies. Then last year our kitchen was gutted and the year before we had company until mid-december making it impossible to host one. So after a two year break, once again, the house was filled with ladies having tea and eating tons of calories and celebrating the birth of our Lord.

Our home is relatively small, 1600 sq feet. (thats all together) probably 750 on the main floor. I moved almost all of the furniture out of my living room into the family room and put my old kitchen table in the living room. I had a table of 7, another of 6 and another of 4. After fighting a yucky sinus cold for the past 5 days, I wouldn't have got it together, except for the grace of God and my two wonderful daughters who baked and cooked and washed (30 loads of dishes girls?) over the course of the two days I was finally out of bed! Yup, we didn't homeschool the past two days, the boys wasted away playing Madagascar computer game from the library and the girls cooked with me from noon into the wee hours of the night. But all was not loss. Natalie, especially who stuck with it every moment, learned to make Lemon Curd and Devonshire Cream. She mulitiplied recipes to make enough, learned to use a double boiler, tempered chocolate and most importantly learned to make fudge! No, really, they both grasped the beauty and fun of learning to show hospitality to our neighbors but treating them in a special way. That goes beyond the school books I think. That and we made memories.

Since being sick so many days prior to the tea I was at a loss for trying to get it together. Another dear friend dropped off a big bin of decor on Sunday Morning when she picked up my kids for church. This was wonderful, all the decor came from her bucket with little work from me...just putting it together. My accountability partner and friend Michele, graciously asked if she could work in the kitchen! That was radically different this year and made it much more enjoyable not just for my guests, but it was a royal treat for me. By the time my guests had left, she and her daughter and my two girls had done ALL the dishes! It was amazing after all that baking and cooking and preparing. Thank you Michele, Erin, Natalie and Tayler!

I stamped the place cards and "glory to god in the highest" verse to tuck in the flowers. My friend Sara sang for my guests, One Small Child and my neighbor Denise read a wonderful Christmas poem. Thank you all my friends for your help!