Perfect Princess Tea

For Mattie's fifth birthday (in September) we had a Perfect Princess Tea party. Her favorite princess is Belle....mainly because she wears yellow, not because she has seen Beauty and the Beast, because she hasn't. She's just not into watching princess movies, however, she loves playing with her princess dolls and tea sets. 


The entire inspiration came from the CD we had playing during the party.....Disney's Perfect Princess Tea....it is personalized with Mattie's name inserted throughout. We kept the party small and (almost) followed the "number of guests rule" of the child's age plus one. 


Belle greeted guests in the foyer :-)

The simple cake table held the Belle cake, Disney World picture of Mattie and Belle, napkins, and an antique tea service. 

I decided to use my real china for the party. Not a single piece was chipped! 

Mattie and all of her friends loved getting dressed up for tea!

Macie wouldn't dress up! 

The menu was simple and girly: ham and cheese sandwiches cut into hearts and flowers, fruit, Wheat Thin Stix, and lemonade (instead of hot tea). 

My sweet friends Kimberly, Harlan, and Renee came by!

The girls played Ring Around the Rosie as the Cedarmont Kids CD played the song. 

The girls received a manners and etiquette lesson before the tea and they were all so sweet and polite! 

We even had a little brother tagging along but he refused to dress up in the dragon costume :-) He was a perfect little prince though! (We had a slideshow with Mattie's Disney pics playing on the tv.)

Gift time!

Macie doing her hair :-)

That's Karla in the background....she took ALL of the pictures and lifted a great load off of my shoulders! 

Even though it was a very simple party it turned out to be the best one we've had! 

Happy birthday, Mattie Caroline! We love you to pieces!!!


2 Peter 3:18 (NIV) But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

2011 Review

Happy New Year! I am blogging about our year so we'll remember the highlights and good times. 

January


* It snowed. A LOT. For the south anyway. 

* Macie turned two! 

February 


* Mattie and DaDa went to their first Father/Daughter dance at Mattie's dance school. 

* Mattie and I made Valentines for her MDO party.

* We went to a Mardi Gras parade in Mobile, AL and visited family.  

March 

* We went to the Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival and visited family. 

April 

* I went to my first Pat Green concert with Bonnie and now I'm a fan! 

* Tornadoes ripped through Alabama and devastated many towns, including Tuscaloosa. Josh (my BIL) witnessed it and lost his place of employment. He stayed with us for several days while power was restored to his house. 

May 


* Mattie had her first dance recital! 

* We visited our friends, the Jordans, in Panama City, FL. I need to do an entire post on that. We went via 30A and stopped in some of the little beach towns on the way there and back. 

* Our friends, Justin and Amber, visited for Justin to graduate from medical school. Then, they moved to Jacksonville, FL.

* The girls and I stayed with my parents in Alabama during Memorial Day week. I have lots of pictures from the garden and need to do a separate post with them! 

June 


* My Daddy turned 90 and we had a big party to celebrate!

* We took a little trip to Hot Springs, AR. 

July 


* We spent our July 4th weekend at Dauphin Island, AL and did lots of boating in the area.

* We had a farewell party for our friends, Matt and Jamie, before they moved to Amsterdam. 


* Almost every weekend during the summer we enjoyed the boat! 

August 


* Mattie started Kindergarten! I am homeschooling her and she attends Classical Conversations one morning a week.

* Macie started MDO one day a week! 

She wasn't sure if she would like it on the first day but now she LOVES it! 

September 


* Roll Tide!!! We went to Tuscaloosa for the season opener. 

* Night Ranger, Foreigner, and Journey concert with the Nipps....EPIC!

* Mattie turned five and we celebrated with a Belle tea party!

* We found a baby squirrel in the back yard and took care of him. Mattie named him Jaken. It wasn't until many weeks later that I understood why when she said it was from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates"....Jake and = Jaken! :-)

October 

* Another trip to Alabama for Butler Fest! Bonnie, The Nipps, and I ran the 5K, then hung out and had delicious BBQ! 

* Casting Crowns, Sanctus Real, and The Afters concert! 

* Roll Tide some more! 

November 


* Our Classical Conversations group had a Thanksgiving Feast and I took two little Pilgrims! 

* The Nipps and I went to a Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels, and Louie Giglio concert! It was outstanding. 

* We traveled to northeast Tennessee, Virginia, and the Smoky Mountains the weekend before Thanksgiving. 

* In Bristol we did the Caterpillar Crawl scavenger hunt through downtown and had the BEST time searching for little bronze statues depicting the story. 

* After visiting Kingsport, Johnson City, Bristol, and historic Jonesborough we went to Gatlinburg and spent a couple of days. 

* Then, we spent Thanksgiving in Alabama.

December 


* Bonnie and I ran our first half marathon....13.1 miles! Here's "proof" :-)

* Mattie had her second Christmas dance show.

* Macie had her first MDO KinderMusik recital....her very first time on stage! 

* Bonnie and I went to see Bebo Norman in concert! 

* As always, we spent Christmas in Alabama. 

Once again, our cups ran over and we have been abundantly blessed. We had a wonderful year of good health, family, and friends. 

Happy 2012!!!


Lamentations 3:22-24 (NIV)  Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; 
great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; 
therefore I will wait for him.