Homecoming--Boy Perspective

 Alex went to his fist Homecoming last weekend.  I have to say it is a little less crazy when your son goes than when your daughter goes.  But still a little nerve racking.  It is hard to wait for the girl to answer him.  I mean, what if she says no?  How would I handle that?  Luckily I didn't have to. (Because a mysterious doorbell-ditcher left this:)

Alex and his friends decided to have their dinner at my house.  I was happy about that, but it was a little pressure.  I had to do a good job of it so they would want to come back again~
So I turned to Bree--always my go-to source for decorating.  She helped me arrange all the stuff I bought for the table so it looked pretty.  And she had the great idea of putting white Christmas lights up for some soft lighting when the sun went down.  The picture below shows how this was easier said than done.  The strings of lights were long and heavy.  And we were putting them up at about 4pm on the west side of my house.  The heat kept melting the stickiness off the tape.  We did the logical thing--just keep adding more duct tape.......beautiful isn't it?  It did hold for the entire night.  We kept wondering what would happen if they chose to fall down right in the middle of dinner.....

 Fortunately the yard and table looked much nicer, and hopefully no one was looking too closely at how the lights were hung.  Brooklyn, Olivia, and Eva dressed up and served the food.  They did a great job. 

 Bree also took the pictures for everyone.  She always does a great job with this.  I've had lots of comments from happy customers, and their mothers, on Bree's photography skills.  Here are Alex's pictures and a group shot.

The fun thing about doing the pictures and having dinner at my house is that I got to meet everyone and see all the great dresses.  It was wonderful.

Have you ever wondered?

Have you ever wondered what it is like for those people who organize and run the big events at school?
Well,  I was in charge of the school carnival for the second time this year.  In many ways it went much more smoothly because I learned a few lessons last year.  BUT....there are some things that just can't be done ahead of time.  So I thought I would show you what happens to my world during the last week before the carnival.....( and I can't get that picture up there to move, so just pretend it is below this paragraph please) (carnival also happens to fall right in the middle of canning season, so you can see all my canning supplies and apples being pushed aside and hoping to get finished off before they spoil)

For several days my house gets taken over by very large posters, and a few games I am building and adding to the party this year.  Yep, I made that very cool bean bag toss game.  I end up staying up very late into the night, and spend the rest of the night worrying and planning when I should be sleeping.

 And then things get sort of crazy and I have to enlist the help of the children to get some things finished up....because I have about 30 emails a day coming in as I attempt to organize a small army of volunteers.

 And then things get even crazier and my family sees notes like the one above way too many times to be admitted to.

But the carnival comes anyway.   And my van looks like this.  Brooklyn had to crouch on the floor in the very front of the van and Kobe had to sit Indian style in the front passenger seat.  It was an eventful ride to school.  And yes, that is 350 cans of soda, supplies for 15 carnival games, posters, 3 different kinds of tape,and anything else I might need--cuz I'm not coming home today.

 Oh, and there are also 6 cases of bottled water, 6 coolers, and 8 extension cords in the middle of the van.......and that's just the supplies I have at home.  (not in the picture are 70 2 liter bottles of soda on the floor under the coolers) I will unload this stuff at the school and spend the rest of the day driving around and picking up more stuff from other places.

 

 And then everyone comes and has fun.  I should have gotten pictures of the set up.  It's pretty much organized chaos, but it always seems to work out.  However I was too busy directing the chaos to get any pictures.

We had even more people come than last year, but I was too busy to take pictures during the first half of the carnival.  So these are toward the end when people were starting to leave.

But I think it was a success, and I'm pretty sure it is now time for someone else to take a turn.

I didn't even get to have a rest, because the carnival happened on Thursday and I hosted Alex's Homecoming group for dinner on Saturday.  I'll do a post on that as soon as I get pictures done.  HINT:  It went great?

So now I need a bubble bath and a long nap.  Thank goodness for 1:00 church!