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Truly one of the best things about being 50, (perhaps the only good thing about being 50), is my grandchildren. What a delight they are to me! And the best part is, that they do go back home. And my house can return to being a peaceful, (and clean), sanctuary. Last week I had the pleasure of hosting two of my favorite people, while giving the their Mama a little break after having just delivered her 4th baby. He makes our 6th little grandbaby, our 2nd grandson. Big sister and big brother got to spend the week over here with Grandma and Grandpa. Naturally, we had to have at least one tea party! But I must tell you, they ask me to have a tea party for them. Nothing could make me happier. It’s such a fun way for us to spend time together.
Hosting a tea party for your grandchildren is super fun. And I guarantee they will LOVE it! Even my squirmy little grandson loves having tea in the tea room with grandma. You do this at one of their regular mealtimes, such as lunch. Everything that kids love to eat can be easily translated into “tea party food”. We made graham crackers with jam, and celery sticks with peanut butter, slices of cheese, mandarin oranges, grapes, and banana bites, and a little slice of Angel Food cake for dessert! They loved it and ate every bite. It was served with a flavored herbal tea, (I used Raspberry Mint, which my grandson loved and drank 6 cups full! Good things the cups were tiny).
The little tea set I served lunch on was a thrift store find that cost me less than 8 bucks. It had some broken pieces. But it is just perfect for hosting a tea party for 2 grandkids and 1 grandma.
And in true grandma form, I used our little tea party as an opportunity to teach them about table manners. (Not that they needed much direction from me, since they happen to be very well behaved, thanks to some very firm guidance from their awesome mother). But we did talk a little bit about putting your napkin in your lap, and chewing with your mouth closed. Using magic words such as please, thankyou, and excuse me. There is a book titled Children’s Tea & Etiquette, by Dorothea Johnson if you’d like more information about proper tea manners. Personally, I think this book takes the etiquette theme way too far by suggesting which side of the chair to exit from when leaving the table, and where to leave the napkin, yadda, yadda. Too much information, I say. Too many rules spoil the fun of having a tea party. I am a tea party hostess, not a tea party snob. And I’d really prefer to let my grandkids have fun during the experience. So a few rules are great. But don’t take this too far.
Once the kids have settled and started eating well, I like to tell them a story. Any good story book will do. But in keeping with the occasion I chose to read one of the stories from Sandy Lynam Clough’s book titled “Come To My Tea Party”. This wonderful book has stories of kindness, recipes, and craft ideas. It’s a fun book for grandma’s to have in their library. My favorite children’s tea party book of all is Emilie Barnes book titled “Let’s Have A Tea Party”. This wonderful book is a plethora of fun party ideas, decorations, recipes, games, themes and more. There is a wealth of information here, and I highly recommend it. Whether you are hosting a tea party for your own children the neighbors kids, or the grandkids, you will find all the inspiration you could possibly need in these titles.
Well, I have just finished my cup of Kashmiri Green Chai, which means it is time for me to say goodbye and finish up my errand running for the day. I hope you will join me again for tea soon.
Blessings,
Tea Lady Darla
Dan and grandkids on camping trip
The problem with marrying the most wonderful man in the world, is that he makes me look like crap all the time. Yes, he is Mr. Popularity. And I am the stick-in-the-mud realist. This is actually quite a switch for me from my first marriage. But I’d rather not go into that. ‘Today let’s just talk about Dan the man. A guy who would go to the ends of the earth to join his kids and grandkids on a camping trip. He packs all the food, and urges his children to just meet him somewhere that’s convenient to them. This works out to be a bummer for me, since I hate camping! I try to go up and meet the crew just for the afternoon.
Now let me explain a few things here. What Dan means when he says “camping” is that he wants to go somewhere remote, that technically should only be reached by four-wheel-drive. He doesn’t want any running water. And he’d very much prefer to pee on a tree than in an outhouse, much less a restroom. It will usually take 3 or more hours to drive to, and another 3 hours to drive home. Yee-haw!
I, on the other hand, am a total priss. If it’s dirty, I don’t want to touch it. I don’t want someone who hasn’t washed his hands in 4 days making my breakfast. Call me “Monk”, but it’s the way I am. If we had a camper with running water and a flushing toilet, I could do the whole camping thing. Even a decent campground that offered showers and toilets would be acceptable. But no, no! That would defeat the whole purpose of camping.
Proof that I actually do go up for the afternoon
When my 3 year old grandson asks for a small piece of hard candy, grandpa says “Sure! Why not?” Not “let’s ask your mom first, or grandma.” And he certainly doesn’t offer them an alternate treat. Never mind that it’s the type of candy a 3 year old could choke on. Recently my beloved promised our little darlings a trip to the mountain to go sledding. You might think that a case of diarrea should of changed the plans, wouldn’t you? Couldn’t they have gone somewhere closer to some decent toilet facilities? Well, heck no! Grandpa Dan is unstoppable. He bundled up his 2 grandkids, and swore he’d be fine. I just tried not to concern myself with the possible outcome. Afterall, if their mother was okay with it, than I was fine with it…sort of.
Dan is a boundless, bundle of energy that seems to have no end. He teaches science/biology/forensics at Redmond High School. He coaches football from August- November. Then coaches wrestling December-March. He referee’s whenever he has an opportunity to do so, which means that many weekends and evenings he is working. He also teaches a high school Sunday school class, leads a Bible study and mentors a group of high school boys, he teaches in our home Bible study group, he is an elder in our church, and he is on the pastoral staff at a little community church out in nearby Camp Sherman. Did I mention that he is a wonderful father to our our 8 children, and the most incredible grandfather on the face of the planet?
Me? Well I can come across as being downright rude to people. Because of Dan’s many contacts through the school, community, and church, he is frequently asked to do weddings and funerals. If you should contact me when trying to reach Dan for this purpose, the answer will automatically be “no”. Unless, of course you are one of our children. You cannot imagine what a stretch it is, in our already overcrowded schedule, to fit something like this in. We will council a couple 3 times before the wedding, to prepare them for Holy Matrimony. Dan has a very hard time saying “no” to these requests. But I don’t. Remember I am the stick-in-the-mud realist. And God put me here to help keep Dan alive and healthy for as long as possible. I know how harsh that sounds. But I have a feeling that just like Adam in the book of Genesis, God took one look at Dan and said, “it is not good for this man to be alone”. And so God brought Dan a suitable helpmate. Me.
Before Dan and I were married, our families had met together in Las Vegas at the home of mutual relatives. This was our first meeting, and we hit it off pretty well, right from the start. As did our children. In the evening our two families packed into one little mini van to explore the big city together. There were nine of us at that time, (before Lewis joined us). Dan drove, (as it was his rig), and I sat in the passenger seat, unaware that God was bringing our two families together as one. Dan’s kids had the windows rolled down, and began cat calling and barking at the tourists. Dan chuckled from the front seat, but never once tried to discourage their behavior. I was…well….speechless. I figured that he was letting them be a little crazy because they were on vacation. I had no idea that this behavior was “par for the course”, normal everyday type behavior for this single bachelor with his 4 kiddos.
I think God knew that in order to seal the deal I had to be from a different city. If I had had a chance to see the way Dan lived his life, I would have been way too terrified to commit. I actually was a little puzzled why any guy as wonderful as Dan hadn’t been scooped off the market right away. Not that he’s perfect by any stretch of the imagination! But he is wonderful, and believe me, I know it.
I am not so wonderful. I am warning you. I have an easy time saying “no”, and telling people when they annoy me. Afterall, someone had to straighten those kids out. Just keep these things in mind next time you see me, folks. I’m tough. I’ve had to learn to be. I may not be the outdoorsy camping type….but I have survived 14 years of marriage to Dan, the nicest guy in the world, AND mothering his children. I may be prissy, that is true. But I am one of the toughest women on the planet.
Baby Madison
Good morning tea lovers. After a month long sabbatical, while Dan was away in Zambia, August has started with a whirlwind! First, poor Dan had quite the adventure just getting back to the U.S. when the international airline carrier he was booked on went on strike. He had left Ndola, to Johannesburg, and from there flew into Frankfert, Germany. Behold the end of the line. The Frankfert to Portland flight was canceled, leaving Dan scrambling, on very little sleep, to find a way back home. It took 30 additional hours and 4 additional flights all over the world, but finally my little man showed up at midnight, the last arrival at the PDX for that Thursday night. I hardly recognized him in the dark, dressed in all his new African garb, as they had turned out the overhead lights in the airport. His luggage, sadly, did not arrive with him, and had landed somewhere in Whitehorse, Alaska. But alas, today there is drumming in the tea room. And all is well here at Selah Inn!
On Wednesday, we had received a call from Oregon DHS that they had a sibling group of 3 in need of shelter. So the last time I had spoke to Dan when he was calling from one unknown airport, and scrambling to the next unknown airport, (he gave me very few details, and being the middle of the night, I had forgot to ask the important questions), I threw in a “While you are on that flight, please pray about taking 3 extra kids into our household on Friday”. Now, all you who read this may think my delivery was a little extreme. But you have to understand, that’s the way this family operates. Things always happen quickly. Change is inevitable. Our family is constantly on the move. And I’m figuring that I’m giving him a full 24 hours of uninterrupted time to think about and pray about our situation. But then, I started getting worried when I didn’t hear from him again. Perhaps, it had just been too much. So, indeed I was truly grateful when he came walking down the terminal into my open arms.
We arrived back in Terrebonne Friday evening. DHS had found a place for the sibling group to stay until Monday, giving Dan and I a few additonal days to “reacquaint” ourselves with each other. Two of the kids were returned to their home, and only one of the children would need to be placed at this time. So yesterday we met our beautiful 15 year old foster daughter for the first time. She is a lovely girl inside and out, and we are truly looking forward to getting to know her better. I am keeping her name confidential in this format for obvious reasons.
Today, we are heading over to Portland to meet the other new addition to our family. Little Madison Mercy, born in the wee morning hours on August 4th to our kids, Justin and Cara. I hear she is a beautiful red head, just like her mother and big sister. I’m so excited to meet her! And I know she will be a lovely addition to this crazy family.
I have to confess I’m a little upset with my pastor right now, as 4 weeks ago he led the congregation in the Jabez Prayer. I was afraid to speak it aloud, knowing full well what happened the last time I prayed that prayer. In case your unfamiliar with the prayer, it goes something like this: “Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, keep me from evil so that I will not cause pain”. I love the Jabez prayer…mostly…it’’s just that when you already have a pretty large territory to deal with, who needs more? Truly I sat there in my pew thinking if I say this prayer, I’m gonna get it! God’s gonna answer that prayer, because he did, IN A BIG WAY, the last time I prayed it! Sure enough, our territory has once again been enlarged, and I am blessed indeed. Terrified, but blessed. Please keep our family in your prayers as we provide Selah Moments to our new daughter. She is desperatly in need of them.
Thanks,
Tea Lady Darla
