Poetry & Hymnal Tea Time

It is very cold out today - minus 16 C to be exact!  For the past few weeks I have been sending the kids out to the backyard in the afternoon for some outdoor play but today it is just way too cold to have them do that.  So I decided to do utilize an idea a friend of mine had posted on her blog:  Poetry Tea.  I decided it would be a complete surprise for my kids.  I made some apple crisp and put it into bake during our afternoon read a louds.  I sent them to the rooms for some quiet time while I got busy creating 'the environment' for the tea. :)  I had so much fun setting it all up!  I covered the table with a pink linen I got from our wedding and overlaid it with a gorgeous crocheted table cloth which belonged to my husband's Grandma.  I used our good china and sliver spoons.  I picked out some tea cups that I thought reflected what my kids would like.  I made sure that my eldest daughter had her treasured tea cup she received from a prayer partner at a church tea.  The rest of the tea cups were from my Great Grandma's collection of tea cups, passed on to me. I am sure I was grinning the entire time I set it up! hehe

I picked out a few poetry books including:  The Real Mother Goose, Poems & Prayers for the Very Young. I also got this book Then Sings My Soul  which is a book about the history behind some of the most well known Hymns, how they came to be, etc. 

All the effort to pull this together was worth it to see the looks on their faces!!!  Each of them were so excited to see the table and use all the china.  I explained where all the items came from and they were fascinated to learn about the family history there. They listened eagerly to the poems and had a great time giggling while I read to them and they ate.  We had hot chocolate in the tea cups, none of them like tea.  :)  And of course the apple crisp was a huge hit.  

The last reading was about the hymn: The Lord Bless You and Keep You (from the Bible, Numbers 6:24-26). My kids are used to the Praise and Worship Music of our church so I chatted with them about how we sung hymns at our church and that I have fond memories standing beside my Grandpa while he sang the hymns in his deep voice. 

There was some really neat information on the hymn The Lord Bless You and Keep You, as it was found in tiny amulets dating back to the Hebrew monarchy seven centuries before the birth of Christ. It was put to music in the late 20's by Peter Christian Lutkin, known as BENEDICTION.  We listened to the hymn on You Tube at the end of our tea time.

It truly was an amazing afternoon and it turned out so well, I know we'll do it again.  It set the mood for the rest of a lovely afternoon. 

Esther - very excited to be using the china!

The Table - all dulled up! :)

Our books!  I don't have the hymnal one in there though.  It was on my Kindle.

Graham enjoyed the tea as well.  He thought it was great!