In a few hours, my parents with both of my grandmothers, and both of my brothers and their families will arrive. The girls and I along with my neighbor who helps me clean, cleaned the entire house yesterday. Yes it took all day! We also finished putting bows on gifts, and we washed, dried, folded, and put away seven loads of laundry.
Here it what it looks like around here.
The presents are wrapped.....
gifts for my family on our guest bed
Olivia and Julie helped me make the bows.
The tables are set.....
Six people will eat in the dining room, eight at the kitchen table, and five of the youngest children will eat at our bar.
This is what my dining room looked like before. I spent a few days in here finishing up the wrapping.
The dining room now.
Jimmy gave me this set of Christmas dishes about twelve years ago. I have eight dinner plates in this pattern.
The kitchen table
Jimmy gave me this set of dishes the very first December after we were married. This set contains dinner and salad plates, cups and saucers, and bowls. I was so happy when he gave me these dishes!
The younger children are using these cute plastic dishes at the bar.
Most of my menu for today's party couldn't be prepared ahead of time. Last night I made a strawberry congealed salad, and I slice the ham and put it on a platter. Later on this morning I will make homemade macaroni and cheese (I did grate a pound of cheese last night for this), mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, and green beans. Oh, and also I am trying a new recipe from my neighbor, Mrs. Herring: white chocolate bread pudding. She said to bake it while we are eating our lunch so it will be hot at dessert time. The recipe sounds delicious.
I think I better get to work!
Everything looks beautiful! Since both my mother and mil live here, we NEVER have anything at our house, but maybe that's a good thing since my dining room table still has last year's doll house project on it! My husband promised to clear it off in time for our Christmas party next week. I'll set both tables for 8, open another table that I can seat 4-6 at, and set coasters around our living rooms for overflow. We've had as many as 60 before, so you never know. I do try to keep the food and drink downstairs and my tables never look as cute as yours. My mom started me on Christmas spode when I was in college. I have a massive collection now and wish I used it more often. I also get her hand-me-downs- pieces that have seen too much wear get passed to me :).
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the pictures. Your girls to such a great job of bows. Ours are just curly ribbons. I need to show Twinkle Toes your pictures, I bet she could do it.
Have a great time today!
Celee
Hi! I'm a new follower and I absolutely love your blog! We have so much in common...we share the same favorite scripture and homeschool, too! Thank you for sharing your family, creativity and passion. As a thank you I want to give you the Stylish Blog Award...
ReplyDeleteStylish Blogger Award Rules for accepting this award are:
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You can get the award off of my post, just save it as a pic; www.thestilishfamiytable.blogspot.com
Merry Christmas!