tales from the reluctant hostess.

let me tell you know. i don't enjoy hostessing.

ever.

even when it is considered a success by those in attendance.

it's true.

I HATE IT.

isn't' that horrible?

i think it is. (and yet, i can't get out of the dread that comes with hostessing a function.)

tonight's Function? was "Family Snack Night"- which means my mom, my aunt, my siblings, a couple select cousins and their families come over to the assigned house every other week. and it rotates in age order throughout the year. and instead of doing family dinner for the whole 40 plus people in the fam. we do SNACKS. as hard or a simple as you want. whatever you want. anything goes. and the point of snack night? we are essentially guaranteed to see my family 2 times a month, if everyone does their night. the kids love it. it's only a couple times a year each. and is supposed to be fun.

there are those of us though, that have been known to be unreliable in the hostessing department(read FLAKEY). i am one of them. and because of that i get a reminder call a few days before warning me it's my turn, and to plan on it. either at my house on Sunday, or the park on Monday.i always want to do the park so i don't have to prep the house for company, but lance likes to do it at our house. but I've done pretty well recently when it was my turn, and followed through. the last two times we have had it here at my craptastic house.

and actually we rotate between snacks and FHE (family home evening) and we used to do snacks every week, and FHE on the first Monday of the month plus snacks and other family parties but some in laws thought it was too much family fun. so we cut back. this IS CUTTING BACK. 2 times a month.

so tonight was my night. to hostess. DREAD!

the HORROR.

yes i would have to clean my house for company. even if it's family it had to be cleaned. and no it wasn't clean . it never is. i kind of need a reason to clean. and this is it. so we cleaned. actually Lance cleaned a bunch yesterday, while i ran errands alone. it was glorious and i got so much done but i digress, I'll get back to cleaning for company. and hostessing. OY!

so last night, in my effort to clean i ended up distracted and cleaning the girls room. not really going to be the most important room in the house but seriously needed it. and then Janie called and said she was stopping by so i said,"come in, and i will load you up with the next couple sizes of hand me downs." so she stood there with me while i went through all the closets of clothes that don't fit my kids but I'd never purged. the baby girl stuff, that Hope has outgrown but i never passed on yet. and the infant boy stuff that needed passed on to Joe. and the boy clothes that Pierce won't fit in for a couple years fit a couple nephews perfectly. i got rid of 13 bags of clothes. mostly grocery bags and a couple bigger ones. but still that is a BOATLOAD OF cuteness. passed on to my sisters. lucky them. most of them, i could say, what went together and where it was purchased and for what kid. and some things i was sad to see go but why hoard the stuff, when i have no babies coming? gold star for me for sharing the wealth.

anyway.i got off course again. lance was not super thrilled with my use of cleaning time to sort and purge, when it's crunch time before a party. but at least i cleared up a BUNCH of hangers for all the new labor day Saver's mountain of crap TREASURES ( that had been sitting on my front room couch since labor day. yeah i am awesome.)

Lance had to sort it all while i was baking. yes i baked for snacks.

there is always the dilemma of what to serve?

usually i go to Costco and buy whatever assortment of desserts sounds good to me. or we do Homemade ice cream. and brownies from a box.

but today i wanted to bake.

RIDICULOUS!

so i stood in the kitchen baking for roughly 4 hours. cookies galore. and i hand rolled most of them. 8 batches? i think. of cookies. homemade, mostly from scratch cookies. i don't even know how many batches went in and out of the Oven. loads. LOADS!

some were doubled recipes. and some were mix and matched. like I'd double it. set aside half the dough. add mini M&M's and then with the other half add peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.

and then bake half of those and then add butterscotch chips. they were all delightful. then i made a double batch of chocolate chip cookie dough and did half with nuts and half without.

and then a batch of russian tea balls aka mexican wedding cakes. delightful. light buttery nutty goodness with sugar on top. HEAVENLY!

i think i did a triple batch of some lemon cake mix cookies. the kids loved them. and 3 kids picked that kind for their lunches tomorrow.

anyway we had chips too. and chips and salsa. ya know for the salty/sweet factor.

and yeah it was successful but I AM BEAT! so tired. and CRANKY!

oh and best part? i had borrowed a footed trifle bowl for Bunko back in June from my sister Janie. and since i'd never returned it yet, I used it tonight for Chips.

well. just after my mom and part of another family got there, Pierce climbed up my shoe bins under the bar/buffet area, and tried to grab some chips out of the footed trifle bowl. KNOCKING IT OVER!

of course i yell $HIT!

in front of or within hearing range of all of my kids , my mother, brother, brother in law, and half of my sisters kids and technically i bet all the neighbors heard it too, even with the doors shut.

super loud. yeah i am not composed at all when i am the hostess. AT ALL!

that's embarassing!

stinking kid!

well luckily the borrowed glass bowl didn't fall off the counter and break, but he did manage to spill a WHOLE BAG OF BBQ chips right onto the floor. it was freshly mopped but you can't serve floor food at a party.

SO. Lance swept it up and we had to throw them away. bringing the chip to cookie ratio dangerously low for a crowd of that size. STRESS!

oh well. it went well.

i was impressed with my MAD BAKING SKILLZ. even though Lance wasn't really impressed.and my mom assumed i had purchased all of the cookies. maybe because there was so much there and so much variety and the fact that i baked more cookies today than i ever have in my WHOLE FREAKING LIFE.

and the kitchen was clean before, during and after the baking.

and the crap counter cleared OFF!

and stuff was actually put away versus just shoving it in the laundry room and closing the door. (that habit is lovingly referred to as , the "stash and dash")

today i actually put things away for real. that right there my friends is a FREAKING MIRACLE!

and KUDOS to Lance who did a bunch of laundry and put away all the stuff that was piled on the counter in the laundry room. the counters that we haven't seen in over a year. that counter. and yes we could even see the FLOOR and could sweep! which seriously it's been months since i swept in there. yup Lance deserves kudos. OH but i have to say he was PISSED that he had to put away the SAVER'S loot, since i hadn't yet because i didn't have enough hangers. yeah hangers here are a hot commodity and we will NEVER HAVE ENOUGH.

( it admit it. it's a sickness really, the clothes buying. i just hate when he notices.)

and the kids had to be THREATENED! with mega groundings to cooperate and help clean their domain.(the basement) CAN I JUST SAY? it amazes me, how messy that room gets overnight. they kill me. the other day they were toasting pretzels in a desk lamp. and eating them in the basement. MORONS I TELL YOU. who does that crap? i swear. fire hazard anyone? DUH?not to mention the no food in the basement rule. UGH!

so Snack night was successful, Lance and I are both EXHAUSTED, and there were No major accidents tonight. and that's saying alot with over 30 cousins running around together. with limited adult supervision.

and a wheel of death (vintage merry go round) in the back yard.

SUCCESS!

so that's it for this episode of tales from the reluctant hostess. until next time...

a few questions i want answered by you-

I totally stash and dash! how about you?

do you bake cookies? what is your fave to bake and to eat?

how often do you see your family for family togetherness?

do you see your family or the in laws more? which is better/more fun?

for a family party of your siblings and their kids, how many are there usually in attendance?

Janie, thanks for sending me the pictures. i was too fried to take any by the time i was done getting ready. Oh and i really will return your Trifle bowl someday. and sorry for exposing your herd to my foul mouth.