December Wrap-up Part 2

After deciding we simply couldn't have crammed any more into a weekend, we reflected on the Nutcracker, church play and luncheon for about, well.. a few seconds and then moved on to the next big event: the Holly Jolly Christmas Ball at Stately Eades Manor.

Prep for the Christmas ball is unique in that I don't obsess about how clean the house is (they're teenagers for goodness sake, and they won't notice whether it's clean or not), but I do have a tremendous amount of work to do to prepare the dance floor. Serious amounts of furniture moving, rug rolling and general rearranging has to happen in order for 2o or 30 people to line dance in the living room.

Alyssa and Nikole Brown were the masterminds behind this year's ball. They pared down the number of invites this year in order to achieve a more intimate group. Look at the pictures and see how they fared. Not sure what the criteria was for making the A list, but apparently I'm still on it. In keeping with the event being Alyssa and Nikole's baby, Alyssa made much of the food, and the Brown family rounded out the menu with their additions. I LOVE having big kids take over some of my former duties.

Yes, that's a sofa in my dining room, and my table with ALL the leaves removed. Odd looking, but it clears the dance floor.

Slide to the right?

Cha-cha!

Kevin and Lauren...aren't they cute?

Alyssa and Samantha Walton - good friends for, oh my, nearly 18 years.


Kevin? Hanging out with the girls? Surely not?

Raegan and her "creeper eyes"

The end of a long night, but still smiling.

A bit of clean up happened and then the next day we moved on to Patrick's birthday and the Shady Oaks Christmas Party. Every other year they dress up the horses and have a costume contest. I had been mulling an idea over since the last contest two years ago: surely I could combine my Nutcracker costuming skills and this contest. The result: Lacey the Sugar Plum Fairy WINS!!!

First we gave her pointe shoes.


Then we added a tutu, a feather boa, flowers and a tiara.

We tried to give her stage make-up, but she wanted nothing to do with lipstick.

And, the final touch was going to be me braiding her tail and tying it with a pink ribbon. Guess she told me what she thought of that idea. I was tenacious and finished (after Hannah scooped up the presents Lacey left us).


Here they are: off to be judged!

We couldn't stick around for the Low Country Boil as we had to move on to the next event - birthday dinner with the whole Eades clan at Longhorn's to celebrate Patrick's and Chrissy's birthdays.