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Teddy Bear Tea 2012

Saturday, December 22, 2012
This is the third year that I have taken Kate to the Teddy Bear Tea at the St. Regis Hotel.  I took Will when he was about 4 or 5 and I dreamed of the day I would be able to share this experience with my daughter.  Kate loves it!!  We bring a new Teddy Bear that they give to a child in need (I think CPS gives them to children for comfort during a tough transition).

The tea is a fancy affair with a magician and puppet show.  There are treats and cookie decorating and t-shirt drawing and limbo.  Kate just loves it!  I was QUITE sick the morning of the tea and was not sure I could muster up the energy to make it but somehow I rallied. We went with our good friends and neighbors, Amy and Eden.  I did not take nearly as many photos as I usually do and since I still do not have my computer (and therefore no photoshop) these are straight out of the camera.  Also, Will and Harry were my photographers for these at home shots and unfortunaely most were really out of focus:(


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Kate and her friend, Eden as we arrived at the tea...

 
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The Teddy Bears awaiting new homes
 
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Muffy, the Ice Princess was so happy to see Kate.  We see her around town at various functions and she always remembers our family.  She was there 10 years ago when Will went to the tea too!

 
 
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Kate and her friend, Eden with their hot cocoa

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These girls are so cute!!!!
Kate did not want me to take her photo anymore (like that was going to happen!)

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Doing the Limbo

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Cookie Decorating

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Me and my sweet girl
(I know I look pale and pasty.  I had been very sick.)

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It is driving me mad not to have my computer.  This little post took me forever to do on the boys PC as I am so used to my Mac and my flickr. I LOVE this time of year though.  We have so many fun family traditions and I love to post about all of them.  It is killing me not to be able to do so quickly.  I will try to post our Chrstimas Card here tomorrow:)  I hope you are all enjoying a nice weekend preparing for Jesus' birthday!

P.S.  My dress is a gorgeous Kate Spade silk dress that I recently scored at an incredible price at my local TJ Maxx.  I think I need to get it taken in a little but I could not resist the price. I am sharing because people always ask and I thought some of you might want to check your local TJ Maxx;)

13 comments:

  1. I would have loved that as a little girl too! You can just tell how happy Kate is.

    Merry Christmas!!!

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  2. What a fun event! Love that dress and that color on you is lovely!!

    We've been sick over here too -- hoping to feel better by Christmas! Have a wonderful Christmas!


    janet

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  3. What a fabulous event! K, you look great for being sick.

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  4. That looks like so much fun! I need to see about doing something like this with Kerry. I love Kate's dress..and yours! That's one of my favorite shades of green.

    Gin =)

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  5. I really love your blog- Kate reminds me so much of my daughter. The one thing...and I really have wanted to say this for awhile, but I don't want to come across the wrong way. So, I hope you understand that I am coming from a place of love when I say this. Please PLEASE please stop apologizing for and criticizing your photos. In almost every post, you say something negative about your photos. Your photos are beautiful. It's like when a skinny person says in front of fat people "I'm so fat" and all it does is make fat people feel bad about themselves. Your photos are beautiful. They are "enough"- even the cell phone pics you take. You have had a photo framed and hung in the Smithsonian! So, please...please...don't ever apologize for your photos being blurry or dark or out of focus or not right. Before I opened this post, I knew you would say something bad about your photos, and I told myself that if you did, I would have to say something this time. I know photos never live up to the memory or the event (like the amazing 50th birtday party or last year's nutcracker performance or the teddy bear tea, etc.)- but seriously...your photos are beautiful. Please don't put them down. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas! xoxo, Erika

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    1. Erika,
      Thank you for your honest feedback. I guess I did not realize that I apologized so much for my photos. In some areas of my life, I have very high expectations and photography is one of them. I have taken many classes and worked really hard at it so I get disappointed when My photos are dark or out of focus and I cannot get to my software to edit them. I know it is not really that important. There are bigger things in life to worry about.

      So while I truly appreciate your constructive feedback, I am not sure I will really change the way I am or the way I write. It is who I am and I am flawed. We all are. In fact, I had a hard time posting those photos of me because I spent the morning violently ill from something I ate but I did it so that my daughter would have those memories of us together . My blog will never be perfect but it is honest and it is who I really am. I hope people appreciate that. I hope you continue to read if you can but I am sure there will be more apologies in the future. I am who I am. Have a blessed Christmas with your family.

      Kim

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    2. Thanks for taking the time to reply! I love that you blog honestly- please be kinder to yourself about your photography. No one expects you to be perfect- your photos are GREAT! I know what you mean about being harder on myself than I ever am on anybody else. (((hugs)))

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    3. Erika,
      I had forgotten to thank you for your compliments on my photos. Yes, I am hard on myself and probably insecure about my photography hence the apologies. I have thought about your comment a lot today. I even thought about it at Mass today. I think your comment was a gift to me. I need to appreciate the gifts God has given me and cut myself some slack sometimes.

      I will try to be kinder to myself. Promise. And thank you for gently pointing it out to me. I don't always take criticism well;) just ask my husband!

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  6. What fun memories....and beautiful clothes!!!

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  7. You look BEAUTIFUL!!! Would never know that you were not feeling well!!!
    It looks as though you girls had a wonderful time at the tea....so pretty!

    Just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas Kim!!
    Enjoy every minute with your family~

    xoxo,

    Lisa

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  8. Your straight out of the camera photos are better than my edited photos will ever be. :) And I LOVE Kate Spade sighting at TJM. Merry Christmas!

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  9. Thank you Amy. Clearly I have some insecurities about my photography so it feels good to see the compliments. Merry Christmas!

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Thank you for your kindness.