Holiday Hosting Check-List
Near the top of my thankful list this year is definitely our new home. We are fortunate enough to share that joy with family this year as my parents as well as my sister and her crew are coming to stay for Thanksgiving. Luckily, I will have a lot of help with the meal as my dad has always cooked the turkey and will likely preside as head chef in my kitchen this year. That isn’t to say that there isn’t still plenty to get ready, but with some advanced planning and plenty of communication, it does feel like we all have a good handle on the main meal this year!
Since we will have overnight guests this year, I have been prepping to make everyone’s stay as comfortable as possible. I stocked up on guest linens, (these are good too… more linens) plenty of pillows and extra towels when we first moved in knowing that I would be able to accommodate company once again. Our home has four bedrooms and since each of my son’s has their own room, we do not have a designated guest room. I will be using the two upstairs bedrooms for guests, and my older sons, along with their cousin will sleep in the family room upstairs as well. (this ends up being fun for them) This ensures that all of the adults have a bed.
I have also been stocking up on plenty of snacks as well as drinks. I plan to make a lasagne early this week for the night before Thanksgiving and will have some breakfast items prepped as well. I recently added a beverage fridge to our panty and will keep that stocked with kid’s drinks as well as adult beverages. (our beverage fridge)
On top of having plenty of food and drink, I also took stock of all of our favorite games, and made sure I had new decks of cards on hand as well. We will most definitely play Mexican train (dominoes) which the whole family loves. My sister and brother-in-law like Pinochle and the kids like Sorry and Uno. We also like a few different dice games as well!
Luckily we can send the kids outside to burn off some energy, but I also bought a few crafts from Target that will keep them busy during meal prep or even just when boredom hits. There will also be some hunting taking place this weekend which will keep the guys from going stir crazy. I personally love to be settled in at home for holidays and not have much planned, but that doesn’t always work for everyone else so having ways to get out of the house is a good idea. The ladies will also probably do a bit of shopping in town, and we might spend one night at the local bowling alley.
inexpensive crafts from Target
some of our favorite games
I am a list maker so on top of having a grocery list, I also have a list of what needs done at the house. I will provide that list in case it helps anyone else with their hosting duties holiday season. Please share in the comments what you do to prep for company so I can addd it to my list!
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