2026 Mother's Day Reflections

My kids always make Mother's Day special.  After church Steve made dinner reservations at a new Italian restaurant none of us had ever been to before -  Verona's located in Cambria Hotal in Shelby Twp.  There were several buffets to choose from:  breakfast, pizza, appetizer, Italian and dessert.  The food was amazing.

Hubby and I arrived the same time as our daughter and son-in-law so a picture was taken of Lori and me.

It was a difficult day for daughter-in-law, Sharon, since it was less than a month since her mother passed away.  It wasn't planned, but there was one empty chair at our table and Steve said that was meant to be in honor of Sheena.  Sharon gave me a thoughtful box of decorated cookies from Cookies & Cupcakes by Design.  They were SO good with hot tea.

[Sharon, Me & Steve]

[Granddaughter Brooke]

[Lori, Me & Dave]

[Hubby and Me]

After we finished eating we had a group picture taken in front of the Mother's Day sign.

~ My lovely Mother's Day Cards ~

I hope you were treated special on Mother's Day.  While I received money, gift card and flowers, the best gift was my three wonderful children who made me a mother!

This week happens to be our son-in-law's birthday so on Monday I baked him a carrot cake [his favorite] and delivered it on Tuesday.  

A Quick Trip to Zeeland, MI

With the Spring Tea at church behind me, hubby and I made a fast trip to Zeeland last Tuesday to visit our youngest son and family.  Ellie is on the school's tennis team, so shortly after arriving we went to her tennis match.

We ate diner after her match, played a few rounds of UNO and then watched the Detroit Piston's basketball game on TV.

Samantha asked us to bring our power washer so they could power wash their brick patio, so that was the agenda for Wednesday. It tipped over in our car during transit and gasoline got into carburetor so it gave Jerry a challenge to get it started.  

When it finally started, Samantha was the first to begin the power washing.

Then Jeremy took over.  The job turned out to take longer than anticipated, so we left the power washer so they could finish up as their schedules permitted.

They humored me by letting me take a few photos.  

[Jerry and Jeremy]

[Landon and Jeremy]

[Samantha and Izzy]

Izzy finished up at Michigan State so she was home and we got to be with all three grandkids. While we were there Izzy gave me a tutorial on using Instagram, so I'm up and running there again.

I took two tea samples for us to taste while we were there. The musical Hamilton is being performed at the Fisher Theater so The Whitney is doing a special tea to coordinate with the performance on May 16th. Hamilton grew up in the British West Indies, so I asked our tea blender to give me something tropical that would be found in his native land.  She gave me two pineapple tea blends - one with coconut and one without.  We liked the one with coconut best.

I posted the picture below on my Facebook page and got a couple of comments that the cups were coffee cups, not teacups.  It wasn't a tea party.  The cups were simply vessels used to taste the tea.  We weren't focusing on visual aesthetics.  Thought I better explain that here.  ;-)

We left Wednesday evening to head back home because I had to work last Thursday.  Jeremy and Sam opted to stay in Zeeland this Mother's Day, so they gave me my gift before we left - a cute teapot book marker and a gift card to HomeGoods/Marshalls/TJ Maxx.   It will be useful for a couple of items I plan on shopping for.

Thursday wasn't overly busy at The Whitney, but Friday and Saturday made up for it.  105 guests on Friday and 219 guests on Saturday.  All three floors of the mansion were used as well as every room.  The majority of guests were treating moms for Mother's Day but there were a couple of bridal showers.  I took a photo of the sign used for one of the showers.

The ladies were pleased with the favors we passed out at the 'Generations Tea' on Saturday.  I ordered the cups and saucers from Hobby Lobby so it was an easy task.  I won't have to shop for any other favors now until September when we have the Autumn and Apples Tea.

Teatime photo from The Whitney's Facebook page.

When Saturday's work day was over I was glad to come home and put my feet up.  I was thankful my kids were taking me out to dinner on Sunday for Mother's Day... next post.

2026 Orchard Ridge Ladies' Spring Tea

It's been almost a month since I last posted for which I apologize.  I missed blogging about the anniversary of the Titanic's sinking on April 15, May Day, and the 152nd Kentucky Derby which was yesterday, and probably other significant days as well.  Life has been very busy between preparations for a Generations Tea coming up at The Whitney on May 9th which required 120 favors for the attendees, and coordinating the Ladies' Spring Tea at my church yesterday.  

This is the 22nd tea I've done for the ladies at my church.  This year's theme was 'Bee All You Can Bee'.  I 'borrowed' the U.S. Army slogan but changed it from be to bee.  Bee kitchenware is very popular right now, and while we don't normally liken bees to Christians or use a beehive as a metaphor for the church, there are distinct similarities.  

55 ladies attended this year's spring tea.  After work at The Whitney on Friday I met two dear friends at the church to set up.  

[Donna, Lori and Me]

When we finished I took a few photos.  Yellow and black were the colors of the tablescape and the bee theme made a very cute tablescape.  Normally the tablescapes are elegant and formal with bone china teacups, dishes, footed glass water goblets and silver teapots.  But since bees live outdoors I opted for an informal, fun picnic type setting for this tea.  The ladies enjoyed it and a bonus was that it made clean-up much easier when the tea was over.

In place of china teacups, I ordered black glossy stoneware mugs and hot-glued a bee charm on the handle.  It was their favor to take home after the tea was over.

I ordered bee-themed paper plates, napkins and honeycomb cups from Oriental Trading Co.  On top of each paper plate was a clear glass plate to dress things up just a little.  Self-stick bees were attached to the paper cups for a little whismy.

Hobby Lobby had bee-themed ribbon that I used to decorate the tiered servers as well as tying the plastic cutlery together, and they had the cutest bee expresso cups that I bought to hold the sugar cubs.  The bee-themed table markers also came from there.

Seating chart using bee-themed fabric from Hobby Lobby, and there was enough left over to wrap the bear-shaped bottles of honey that sat on each table.  The lady at each table with the birthday closest to the tea party date got to take the honey bottle home.

There were seven tables of 8 and six of them had two white porcelain teapots on each.  I couldn't resist buying an International French Bees teapot from Macy's for my table along with a yellow Chatsford teapot that I already had.

We served Harney & Sons Paris blend black tea and Earl Grey decaf.

Pamela's Catering, who I've used for the last few teas, provided a delicious tea meal.  Below are the gals in the kitchen plating desserts.

Tiered servers waiting to go on the tables as soon as the blessing was said.

This is the first time I selected Pimento Cheese in Phyllo cups for one of the savories and they turned out being my favorite.

~ The yummy desserts ~

I didn't get a photo of the plated scones, but they were delicious.   They were on the tables and when the ladies were seated they dove into them before the blessing was even said!  ;-)

A short devotional about bees.

My hubby is usually my photographer, but he didn't take any group photos this year.  I hurriedly took a few before the ladies began leaving.

Below my girlfriend, Sandy, seated next to me.  We've been friends since Jr. High School, and standing is a friend she used to work with and has stayed in contact with.

A sweet lady from church wearing a cute bee sweater.  When she left the tea party she went to a Kentucky Derby party so she had a fun, event-filled day!

My daughter, Lori.

And that's a wrap for this year's tea.  The next one will be in September, but I don't have a date yet.  My son suggested a patriotic theme to celebrate our country's 250th birthday.

I hope you enjoyed attending the tea vicariously.

Resurrection Sunday

Happy Easter - He is Risen!

It's been a wonderful week of ministry at our church.  Saturday, March 28th [the day before Palm Sunday] was our annual Easter Egg hunt for the community.  About 450 people attended.

Good Friday was communion from 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.  Our pastors were at the altar to individually serve communion and pray with those who came.  Even though it was a work day for many, they served about 150 people.  I'm showing my age, but I remember when businesses closed from 12:00 - 3:00 p.m. in observance of the hours Christ hung on the cross. I'm so grateful for God's unmerited love, grace, mercy and forgiveness through His Son.

Today was a glorious day in both morning services as we celebrated Christ's "Triumphant Exit" from the tomb.  Our family all enjoyed dinner together after the service.

Granddaughter, Tiffany, sent the photo below of her family taken after church this morning in California.

Daughter-in-law, Samantha, sent a photo of their family returning from spring break in Florida today.

Sign-up for the Ladies' Spring Tea that will be held on Saturday, May 2nd, began today.   The theme is:  "Bee All That You Can Bee".  After I chose that theme it occurred to me I had heard that phrase in a commercial, so I Googled it to see who used it. "Be All You Can Be" is the recruiting slogan for the U.S. Army reintroduced in 2023 focusing on purpose, passion, and personal growth.  That triggered the Sunday School children's chorus sung in days gone by, "I'm in the Lord's Army".  When combined with the characteristics of a worker bee's intense effort to protect the hive from intruders, the theme all fit together like a puzzle.

On another subject, my daughter just returned yesterday from a trip to California visiting her daughter's family.  It's hard to believe Juliette turned 7 years old last Friday.  I sent gifts with Lori and she took pictures of the celebration to share with me.

~ Jules and Evie ~

~ John, Tiffany, Jules and Evie ~