Open House 2010 A Success!!!

After weeks of planning and prep, The Mallett Family Holiday Open House was a fabulous success! I judge this based on a number of analytical points, specifically;

• No one cried
• No one died
• Only one head injury was suffered, it was minor, and it was to one of my own offspring
• Everyone smiled the whole time, including Marc and I
• The only 'work' Marc and I had to do was greet, mingle and pour a few drinks
• Cleanup duty went swimmingly
• Everyone is looking forward to doing it again next year!

My one regret is that I didn't manage to document it photographically as well as I wanted to. I tried, I really tried.  I wanted to go around before our guests arrived and do a video home tour while the place looked as perfect as it ever will.  But I was running behind (nothing new there!), and our first guests were incredibly punctual and, well, this is the best I could do with my broken flip camera.  I hope you don't get too dizzy. 

Also - I've decided I need Invisalign.  18 months of braces, followed by 6 years of retainers at night and the buggers are going all wonky on me now???  What's up with that? People should just start calling me Snaggletooth.

But I digress - here is "Frank" now that we've gotten a few months to pretty him up and decorate for the holidays.  Enjoy!

And Part 2...

Here are a few photos as the day went on...

 Ben and Daddy hanging out before the onslaught

 Guests arrive! Brody is smitten with the kids table in the play room

 The cheese balls were the most sought after munchie by a landslide.  I just bought them because I needed the container for a project I'm working on.  And because they are filled with cheesy goodness.

 Goldfish!  Can't ever have enough of those can you?  Wish they had a holiday assortment of red and green though - would have thought their product department would have been on that already.

Yes, my sense of humor is about the same level as my kindergartener.  And I LIKE IT!   

 This is Ben's buddy Jeffrey, and his shirt pretty much says it all. 

 This is Molly's buddy Julia.  She's Jeffrey's sister.  It was really spiffy of their family to have a child the exact age as each one of mine.  All J names too, easy to remember.   You'll never guess what Jack's buddy's name is.

 The first wave hits.  Not too hard - which is why we have a picture.  When the second wave hit, it was a tsunami.  No pictures of that because I was too busy opening and shutting the door and saying hello!

 The day he stops wanting to wear a tie of his own free choice, I will be so sad.  It's so trademark Jack. 

 I decided to have a 'Signature Cocktail' instead of a stocked bar.  We had wine and beer, but there were going to be too many kids around to have a 'pour your own mixed drink' bonanza going on.   So I tweaked a Martha Stewart recipe for a "Candy Cane Cocktail" using White Creme de Menthe, Vanilla Vodka and Cranberry Juice.  It was pretty tasty!  The paper straws were on clearance at the Crate and Barrel Outlet - there was no way I was leaving without them! (and they're hot pink too, but you can't tell!)

 Two little helpers opening the door for guests.

 I don't know if it's a midwest thing, or a Kinloch thing, or what, but it is an AWESOME THING that it is socially EXPECTED that everyone take their shoes/boots off at the door.  I didn't even need to vacuum the next day!  At one point, there were so many boots on the rug that you could barely open the door.  Again - tusnami - no pictures.

 

These girls didn't have fun at ALL.

Peyton and Sabrina are two girls from the neighborhood - grade 4 and 1 respectively.  They took Molly under their wing, and while the party was winding down, went around to every room the kids had played in and picked up.  And I'm not talking 'picked up' in heavy air quotes, like I would use if my kids did it.  I'm talking picked UP, as in made beds, put away the 5 thousand legos that the boys had dumped all over Jack's floor, left me virtually nothing to do, picked up.  I wanted to kiss them!!  Not only for the work they saved me, but even more, for setting such an amazing example for Molly. 

Clockwise from Molly, this is Chelsea, our neighbor, and Olivia and Sophia, two of Molly's kindergarten classmates.  They had a ton of fun together!

I told Jack and his buddies that there was no Wii allowed until the party was over.  At 5pm SHARP, the begging started.  And no sooner had the telltale Wii startup song come on when every boy in the house (and a completely entranced Miss N.) were drawn to the TV like moths to a flame!

Life is beyond miraculous, as evidenced by the season we are celebrating, but also by the little miracles that happen in our own lives.  How else could I explain meeting someone online in a pregnancy forum while expecting Ben, with me living in Pembroke and she in Japan, and that we would not only become dear friends, but that we would serendipitously end up living 20 minutes from each other in Illinois?? 

God is so cool like that.

I saw these little lollipops (suckers if you're from Illinois) at Dollar Tree (I was shopping for bribes, but that's for another post another day).  They came six to a pack - that's less than 20 cents each!!  They had ten packs and I bought them all (big spender, I know!) without having a real reason.  On the eve of the party I was hoping a favor idea would fall into my lap, and voila!  More serendipity.

We had guests linger until nearly 8 o'clock, and when the last goodbye was said, it wasn't 15 minutes before everyone was in pajamas and this picture was taken.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Postscript: In the time it has taken me to upload and process those two silly video clips, I could have written a 5,000 word essay on Open Houses, or possibly saved the world or something...but you get what you get!  I hope you enjoyed the tour - consider this an invitation to join us for the second annual Open House, already in the planning stages for next year!