Saturday Sundries:: No. 6

Fun & Easy Party

As I mentioned earlier, Valerie and I hosted a Friends and Ponies Party last Thursday. We decided to invite all the girls we know on our block over to play with their My Little Ponies. The 5 girls' ages ranged from 2 to 7. The party also included 2 little brothers, 4 mamas, and 1 dad who stopped by for the last 15 minutes.

If you are so inclined, it isn't that hard to host an informal party. Before we moved to our current house, I never even invited a friend over because I never felt my house was clean or clutter-free enough for company. When we moved, I vowed to have people over. A friend of mine told me her husband says us "moms have to stick together" when it comes to this housekeeping thing. And we need to get over ourselves. If we wait 'til everything is just so, the kids will be off to college before a non-relative ever sets foot in the house.

So, to prepare for the party, just make sure the bathroom is presentable. I got ours clean enough in the time it took the kids to watch an episode of The Backyardigans. Other than that, there are just OPTIONAL things like vacuuming, dish washing, dust-bunny catching, clutter stashing, etc. Valerie was unusually helpful in picking up her toys in her room and the living room before the party. Plus, she had to do those jobs before she could put the Trader Joe's Organic Animal Crackers and Joe-Joe's cookies on the serving plate. We also served a pitcher of raspberry lemonade (from frozen concentrate) and ice water. We used the left over Pony plates and napkins from Valerie's birthday party.

For our front yard garden party, I just set up a table for refreshments and spread a couple of blankets on the lawn. The party went from 2-4 p.m. and activities were as simple as Pony coloring pages for the girls, and toys usually played with indoors brought outdoors for the baby boys. We also put up a tent for the kids to hang out in. And there were lots of Ponies to play with, too, of course! The partial roll of pink streamers that Valerie and I threw haphazardly into a tree ended up being used for dancing ribbons, later on.

It might sound like a lot of work, but not really. And it was a lot of fun!

Do you like to throw parties?