An Early Christmas Tea

Penny is part of a wonderful home school enrichment group, which just happens to meet in our church building.  Notice I did not say, "church", since the real church is really all of the people who love the Lord Jesus as their Savior.  We have been so blessed by the kind and godly folks that we have met through Home School Etc.  It was through this group that we started to feel a little more at home when we moved to the big city about two years ago.  Now we have people we can trust to call up if we need something, like a trusted plumber or sweet kids who like to play with our kitty when we're out of town.  It's sad to know that this is the last year Penny is eligible to be a part of the group.  However, since they meet at our church, and I also work, part-time, at the front desk, I'll still get to see a lot of those dear people at least once-every-other-week.

Now that I've elaborated on what a great group of people they are, I'll show you a few photos from the nice Mother Daughter Christmas Tea that HSE sponsored.  Here are candid shots of the people at our table.

I wasn't good at getting posed shots of anyone.  I'm not very good at even remembering to take pictures of people at most social events.  I think it's because I'm trying so hard to focus on what they are saying that I never stop to think, "Oh, let's interrupt this moment for a picture."  When I do my family members usually moan and tell me that I'm being too "Japanese", like a tourist always taking photos.

Speaking of Japanese, I decided to host a table and give it a Japanese flair.

 So, I used my Japanese tea pots, served genmai-cha (Japanese roasted brown rice green tea), had o-hashi (chopsticks) at each place setting, folded origami paper cranes and made an attempt at an ikebana flower arrangement. 

I was delighted that all of the ladies at my table wanted to try the tea and actually really liked it.  They also were all good sports and tried to use chopsticks for at least a while.  It was nice that Penny and I found another mother and daughter with whom we felt very comfortable chatting with.  We are more on the introverted side, so while we don't like big crowds, this felt like a warm, safe environment with dear friends.

What I really liked about this Christmas Tea was that it was all "homemade".  Every table was hosted by volunteers.  We all volunteered to bring our own food.  And the entertainment was all put on my kids playing instruments or singing.  It was truly like a simple, old-fashioned home grown celebration.  What a wonderful way to start off the holiday season.  My favorite part of the program was a dramatic reading done by one of the parents that touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes.  While it was quite a bit of work, it was really special to share this moment with my daughter that will bring back memories, hopefully for years to come.