mother's day is every day

because there'd been so much going on at the beginning of may, the bean's class celebrated mother's day a couple of weeks later.  we were all invited to a fancy tea party in the classroom, and we were both super excited when the day finally came.

now since it was such a special occasion, everyone dressed up accordingly.  the bean asked me to curl her hair for her that morning, and since i couldn't figure out where i'd put my curling iron (it's been awhile, alright?), i decided to try something new.  the teen bought this contraption ages ago, and you're supposed to put locks of hair down the tube and then the hair dryer will twist it all up and create waves as the hair dries.

amazingly, the thing actually worked quite well on the bean's shoulder-length bob.  see?

when we got to school, there were lots of fun decorations in the alice in wonderland theme.

i love watching her interact with her little friends.  looking back on this picture in a few years is gonna be so awesome.

there were a couple of hours of schoolwork to get through first, and so when i arrived at 10 i was greeted at the door by the bean's teacher, and then was escorted to my seat by the bean.

tea time!  when in doubt, pinky out.

the teacher stood up and said a few words to welcome us all, and then called up the kids by row to make plates to serve to their moms.  it was just so stinking cute.

here's how i tipped my server.

the kids did a cute little skit for us, and then each of them went up to show off the picture they'd drawn of their mom and read a short paragraph they'd written.  i adore this part - listening to each kid complete the sentences "i love my mom because..." and "her favorite thing to do is..." is seriously the best thing ever.

i got off easy, while some moms totally got called out by their kids.  there were a few who said "her favorite thing to do is shop," with one who got specific:  "she loves to shop at nordstrom."  and the classic "her favorite thing to do is drink coffee."  i was hoping to hear "wine" or something racier, but it didn't happen.  heh.

one final gift - handmade garden stakes painted and decorated especially for us.

pretty awesome tea party, wouldn't you say?