Hospitality Kick -Off

I decided to kick off the hospitality challenge in an easy way and have over some close friends. So, our friends C&G and T&R came with their beautiful families for burgers & fixins. We hadn't seen either family in a while due to travel, schedules, etc. so it was WONDERFUL to see them and catch up. Both families are very dear to us.

The primary challenge that arose was thanks to the weather. Where we live it is sunny and dry about 90% of the year. Well, this weekend has been part of the other 10% and it has been rainy and humid. This put a damper on my initial plans to have everyone eat (and the kids play) outside. Instead, we had 6 adults and 8 kids (4 & under) all inside. Below is a picture of 4 of the 8.

Seating was easy - we have two kids tables that we set out for the kids and the adults ate in the dining room. Entertainment for the kids got a little hairy towards the end as it got close to bed time, but a little movie called "Up" came to the rescue and gave the kids a little down time for a while.

I did something a little different food-wise and instead of individual items (such as individual corn on the cobs, etc), I stuck more with larger casserole-type dishes. This made prep and cooking SO MUCH easier for a larger group - I did most of the prep on Friday evening & Sat morning and just popped everything in the oven an hour or so before it was time to eat. We had burgers & fixins, hot dogs for the kids, baked beans, hashbrown casserole, & slaw. Dessert was simple with brownies & rice krispie treats.

The best part was involving my kids in the process (they were happy to help with the brownies & rice krispie treats, not so much with picking up their room) and chatting with them about being a "host" and "hostess". We still need to tackle the concept of why it's not polite to come downstairs naked when you have guests - that happened a couple of times due to potty issues & the wardrobe changes, but hopefully they'll learn that soon. It was fun!!!

Next week will be more of a challenge b/c we're having our minister & his wife and one of our church elders & his wife over. I really hope my kids don't come downstairs naked when they are here!