mommy-daughter fun

This past week Katie and I enjoyed a fun mommy-daughter party at our home with all the other girls in the "Faith in God - activity days" program at church (girls ages 8-11). My latest calling in our ward is working with these cute girls along with a couple of other awesome ladies. In my most humble of opinions, I will declare our party a smashing success. We had great participation, picture perfect weather for an outdoor gathering, lovely decorations, and quite tasty food. What else do you need for a smashingly successful evening?

I am so thankful to my friend Linda who told me about a memorable mother-daughter tea party they did in their ward. With one week before the party was to occur, I finally had an idea that I could use to create a hopefully lasting memory for the young girls in our ward & their moms. I was so excited as I watched moms & daughters arrive dressed in coordinating outfits (I wish I could say that I even thought of such a thing - but I didn't. It is hard for me to be hostess & participant at the same time!) One of the moms couldn't come, so she sent her oldest daughter in her place. 14-year-old big sister came with her little sister, both wearing matching dresses complimented by matching hairdos & sparkly eyeshadow. It was very sweet. I am sure that eight-year-old little girl will always remember the mother-daughter primary activity where her big sister attended as her "mom". Here is a picture of our entire group. The sweet sister duo is front and center, next to Katie and I.

We had a spread of food that, I think, appealed to both moms & daughters. PB&J sandwiches cut like flowers & "pigs in a blanket" were great kid-friendly items that were completely gone by the time the party was over. I also made the oh-so-good fruit salsa & cinnamon chips (let me just say here that if you look up the recipe - I did add blueberries & red grapes to my salsa) that we had at my mom's birthday party. I really wish I would have taken an up-close picture of it. I just love food that looks pretty and tastes good too! This recipe has become my favorite party food lately. I would recommend it for any girly get-together from bridal and baby showers to book clubs and tea parties! I definitely wouldn't call it guy food, but the girls all give it rave reviews.

Fresh flowers & cute little glass plates and tea cups are a must for a tea party, right? I borrowed the plates & cups in the picture below from my neighbor, & my mom had some similar ones that we used as well. Originally I was just going to buy clear plastic disposable plates, but these were so much better! The little girls really loved the plates. Even though it sounds trivial, I am sure that those plates could serve as a memory for at least a few of those girls for many years to come. Here's why I think that - when I was in primary, I remember attending a mother-daughter lunch at my leaders house. It was a fancy lunch and my leader made homemade pineapple upside-down cake. I had never had pineapple upside-down cake before, and I was so impressed by that cake that I remember that mother-daughter party even now, 30+ years later. I am willing to bet that at least one of the girls at the party was as impressed with the little glass plates with matching cups as I was about that pineapple upside-down cake.


We had a few activities planned for the evening to keep it interesting. I got the idea online to host a "T" party, which I decided to incorporate into my "tea" party idea. We started the evening with a "get to know you" type of game where each mommy-daughter pair had a list describing things people may have done & they needed to find people who fit that description - such as "find someone who has lived in a city, state, or country that starts with the letter T" - "find someone who has a loose "T"ooth" - "find someone who knows where to find her "T"ibia - "find someone who enjoys "T"ap dancing" - get the point? Then during dinner, each mom & daughter took turns getting their pictures taken. Now we have to decide what to do with the pictures.

Right after dinner, each mother & daughter introduced the other & shared something about the other, using the letter "T". I told everyone that Katie was a terrific tap dancer and typist (especially for one only in 4th grade) and that she didn't like my "T"acos (which I don't understand!). Katie told everyone that I was a good "T"ypist. My friend, Mary, who is another activity day leader, shared a couple of children's books about children & mothers. Keeping with the "T" theme (coincidentally), Mary read "The Most Thankful Thing", which gave us a bit of sentimental time to add to the silly times. We ended the night with a very silly & very fun relay race with dress-up clothes - moms against daughters. Here is my friend Mary, looking quite lovely, with her daughter Brinley. I am hoping she won't mind that I share this picture - since you can't see her face!

A smashing success, indeed!