Preparing for Thanksgiving

Every year I promise myself that the planning and preparing for the holidays will be smoother and things will be easier to deal with. Well once again I was wrong!!! Not because I am late getting the house clean and ready, or that I haven't completed all of my shopping. The problem is that I am so tired and still having morning sickness, which in reality is only now happening at night. {Thank God! I seriously don't think I could continue to handle the "whole" day sickness anymore!}

I have learned from my mistakes over the last 4 years of hosting either Thanksgiving or Christmas for both of our families. You certainly have to be on top of things in order to host 24 adults and 4 children. This year the count is down to 18 adults since some of Ryan's family members will not attend, but we have 2 more children for the families continue to grow each year. {{{Smile}}}

* I have learned that having your menus completed prior to going food shopping is a great idea. This mean less trips to all the local super markets looking for something.

* I have learned that you need to complete most of your food shopping way ahead of time, otherwise you will not have all the ingredients you need for your recipes.

* I have learned that the closer you get to the holiday the ruder other shoppers are. Wow, seriously there is no need to run me over with your shopping cart for the last apple pie, especially since I was looking at the pumpkin pie. {Yes, its a true story!}

* I have learned that all heavy cleaning should be complete at least (2) to (3) days prior to the holiday and you will have to be a complete "MEANY" in order to keep it that way. That means making your child play in her room only, yelling at hubby to take his muddy shoes off in the mud room not the kitchen, and of course cleaning the dog's paws with paper towels every time she goes outside. {Why does it always have to rain before the big day!}

* I have learned that you will have to take a shower and blow dry/flat iron your hair the night before, usually at 1:00 AM, otherwise I will look like crap the next day.

* I have learned to make sure that 80% of my cooking is done the day prior, and of course don't count on hubby really having the "DAY OFF", since somehow there is always an emergency or someone calls out last minute. You can only count on yourself!!!! Remember that and your stress level will be way down.

* I have learned that you must ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS make sure that you have every single guests list of food allergies ahead of time. Seriously there is nothing worse than finding out someone is allergic to chestnuts after they have eaten your stuffing! And than hearing from almost everyone, "Didn't you know???"

* I have learned that even though we say dinner at 5:00PM, everyone will start showing up at around 1:00 PM and they are expecting an extensive buffet of appetizers. That includes not only cold appetizers, but also hot appetizers.

* I have learned that, Yes it may be Thanksgiving, however you cannot just serve the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. You must have a variety of food including fish, seafood, chicken, red meat, and plenty of side dishes. The turkey is really only for show since you always end up with the whole thing sitting in your fridge for the next week.

* I have learned that my house seriously looks like a complete liquor store since we must cater to every one's alcoholic preferences. There are usually 6/7 types of beer and plenty of variety in the wines, both red and white.

* But above all I have learned that I wouldn't change a thing about all of the craziness and running around. I love having our loved ones around and celebrating together. I love that we are teaching the values of how import family really is to Olivia and only hope that we will continue to grow in our traditions.