Lately

We have been wonderfully busy lately . . .

Learning new things . . .

Hanging out with a "long-time" buddy . . .

Then.

And now.

Steering pirate ships . . .

Climbing Pinnacle Mountain . . .

Hanging out with "the girlfriend" . . .

Playing piano . . .

Running with sticks . . .

Inspecting tornadoes . . .

Marching . . .

Sliding down slides . . .

Using microscopes . . .

And making new animal friends . . .

Monkey Bread

I don't know how Saturday mornings go in your house, but in our house, breakfast is the first order of the day. No boring Thursday breakfasts over here on Saturdays. My guys look forward to something delicious--something that fills the house with a delectable, mouth-watering scent.

You will need:

• 2 (6 oz.) containers of Pillsbury Grands!jr Butter Tastin' biscuits
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. of ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
• 6 tbsp. of butter

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Get the biscuits, and divide into eight biscuits for each container (16 total).

3. Divide each biscuit into fourths.

4. In a Ziploc freezer bag, add sugar and cinnamon. Add biscuit pieces and toss to coat.

5. Sprinkle biscuit pieces evenly in a greased bundt pan.

6. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and melted butter. Spoon evenly over biscuit pieces.

7. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes.

8. Flip onto a cute cake platter, call your people into the kitchen, and enjoy! :)

A Tea Party

Lately, it's been all too easy for me to get caught up in the when-it-rains-it-pours circumstances that are out of my hands. I begin walking down a mental road that leads to worry and a heavy heart. No fun.

It's times like these when something lovely falls into my lap, like a tea party, and I snatch it up--eager for a change of demeanor. My mind says, Yes! Embrace light-hearted tea parties, frilly doilies, sugar cubes, and good friends.

I ripped about ten outfits off of hangers (all pink or green or cream-colored) to find the perfect thing to wear. And after my Goodwill pile grew and I determined for the fiftieth time that I needed to get back into running, I crammed on a grey sweater and jeans. Not exactly tea party attire, but c'est la vie. The most important part of a tea party, as with everything in life, is that you show up.

The tea party was wonderful, and it was so relaxing to chat with good friends late into the night.

"Another novelty is the tea party, an extraordinary meal in that, being offered to persons who have already dined well, it supposes neither appetite nor thirst, and has no object but distraction, no basis but delicate enjoyment."

-The Physiology of Taste

I want to embrace life's tea-party moments: those just because times when you get together for the sake of seeing a friendly face and sipping warm tea. For laughing really loudly or for sharing pain with people who care.

Go do something fun for the sake of it. Throw a tea party.