We are having a Christmas party tomorrow and I just hope it's a lot of fun for everyone. I am spending today making food, baking and of course cleaning, but also worrying.


We have 17 kids and 22 adults coming btw.


What are your best ideas for a successful party?

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

A relaxed hostess. Enjoy!

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I like plenty of seating (it is so awkward to stand and eat) and soft music playing in the background. (not too loud of course) I think that adds a festive touch.

Also somewhere where the kids could safely hang out and play so they are not bored also makes for fun for everyone. (I mean like a playroom, or basement with games and toys.)

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If it's a family party, or a group that see each other regularly, a slide show going on in one corner would be cool!

By all means, don't put one together if you'd be starting from scratch, though.

We usually have a "babysitter" that we hire, or appoint some of the older kids to keep the kids busy for part of the time - we pay them a little $$, too. My husband is crazy about playing Simon sez, so he often hangs out with the kids.

The grownups enjoy the time to socialize w/other grownups this way. I've played the game where you put a famous person's name on the back of each guest, and the guest has to ask only yes or no questions to the other guests to find out who they are...(since we've done it with mixed adults, I find it's best to stick to the grownups everyone knows... Princess Diana, Oprah, Katie Couric, Obama...

But it depends on the crowd! Most people are just happy to come and join you and be merry - you don't have to do any of these things! We'll expect to hear how much fun you had come Monday!

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"The errors of faith are better than the best thoughts of unbelief." - Thomas Russell

Good food, Good Music, Good Company ... that's it.. if you try too hard.. people will know and get uptight too.

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Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have!

If Vegetarians eat Vegetables. Do Humanitarians eat Humans?

'Vegetarian' is an old Native American word for bad hunter.

Good friends, good food, music and paper goods plates cups and utensils to make it easy for the hostess. Enjoy peace and stay safe in this holiday season. Catherine

We are doing our annual Christmas Rob your neighbor party. We had a bad ice storm hit us last night/today, but the roads seem much better now. All of us ladies are looking forward to our night of fun! Good food, good drinks, good gifts and good friends....who could ask for anything more!

Spread the food and drinks around so people aren't all congregated in one place. If you put the beverages in one area, then coffee and dessert in another, main food in the dining area, etc. Also, don't feel obligated to open up any bottles of wine or liquor people may bring, those are hostess gifts for you to be enjoyed at your leisure!! I catered a party today and they played Christmas trivia and Christmas "Don't forget the lyrics" it was pretty cool. One of the best trivia questions was how many gifts will you receive if you receive everything from the 12 days of Christmas......this took a long time to get the correct answer. It's not what you would think. The first day you get 1, 2nd day you get 3 (2 turtle doves & 1 partridge) 3rd day you get 6 (3 french hens, 2 turtle doves, 1 partridge, etc.) The answer is 364. Have a great time!

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*******If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
But if life gives you limes....make margaritas!!!*******

Our parties usually start with good wine and good music.......I love the 'fun' Christmas CD's.....Bath and Body usually has a good one...I still love their one from 2006--Jason Mraz does Winter Wonderland, Rascal Flatts does God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy does Mr. Heatmiser! We also make party mix cd's but then everyone starts 'group karoke' and tries to sing along to Greased Lightning......or Love Shack!

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"It's not about how much baggage you have, it's about whether or not you can carry your own baggage with grace and dignity."

I LOVE Mr Heatmiser!!!!!!!!!!!

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Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have!

If Vegetarians eat Vegetables. Do Humanitarians eat Humans?

'Vegetarian' is an old Native American word for bad hunter.

What is a Christmas Rob your neighbor party?

I always enjoy a performance by the kids and I think most people do. A good party is one where the people and the air is flowing and the conversation is always going. Have some ideas for conversation starters. Have some areas set up with seating so people can sit together and talk. Have a station by the door for people to pick up a drink and some tables set up with finger food. If you are serving alcohol be sure to serve lots of dense fried foods to soak up the booze!
Have an outdoor area set up out of the elements for smokers and people who want a breath of fresh air.
Be happy that is the most important thing! Don't stress on things and have a great time and everyone else will too.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

A rob your neighbor party is a ladies only party. It starts with you bringing three wrapped gifts, a set of dice, and something to eat and drink. The first round everyone rolls two dice, if they roll a combination of 7, they get to pick a gift from the middle of the table, if you roll doubles...you get a free chance to roll again in hopes of getting a 7. You also get to roll again if you get a 7 and take as many gifts as 7s that are rolled (if you roll three 7s in a row, you get three gifts). If any other number is rolled, you lose your turn to the person to your left and it keeps going around the table. After the wrapped gifts are all gone from the middle of the table, everyone takes a break and eats/drinks. Then you set a timer for 30 minutes and you start round two. Round two works the same way, only this time you *rob* someone at the table of their wrapped gift when you roll a 7. Then when the times goes off....you unwrap your gifts, and take another break to eat/drink (but don't get to comfy with your gifts, they won't stay with you long). Then the fun really begins....in round three you get to steal the unwrapped gifts (so now you actually know what the gifts are). This round you set the timer for 20 minutes. The idea of the game is keep it moving as quickly as possible until the timer goes off. We usually spend between $4-$8 a gift. There is usually a few gag gifts in the bunch. The Christmas Rob party everyone brings Christmas oriented gifts. We also do a special Halloween and Easter parties. We all try to get together and do these parties every six to eight weeks. They have become a staple amoung us women. We have been doing them for about 15 years. Over the years there have been some very interesting gifts at the parties. I have actually gone home without winning a single gift, but no matter what....we always have a great time!

flipper113 - do let us know how your party turns out!! i'm sure everyone will have a great time and enjoy your hospitality!!

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Thanks everyone! I am sitting here with everything done, washed and ready to go. Of course Dh has to work late now, so hopefully he'll get here in time for his own party!

I ended up getting stuff together for a game of Rob Your Neighbor, I forgot about that game! DH is supposed to stop at the mall for a couple of gag gifts, hopefully he'll have time!

The hard thing about the party is that there are really 3 sets of people, the guys DH works with, the people from the PTA and then just misc friends, so these people don't really know each other (some do some don't). I know there are a few who are really good at talking to anyone, so hopefully they'll get things going.

I;ll let you know tomorrow!

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

You guys will have a great time, no matter what you decide! It's amazing how many people know each other when we have a party and we had no idea!

Let us know how it turns out!

Booze and a trampoline. . . .don't ask.

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

ROFLMAO.......my imagination is running WILD!!!!!!

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

Sounds like vomit on the tramp to me.

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

male stripper???

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What is Rob Your Neighbor, how is it played?
TIA,
MZ

Well I would say the party was as success! The last person left at 1:00AM and the whole time you couldn't even tell there were 17 kids in the house. The hit of the party was my homemade hot buttered rum, everyone raved about that! We had a LOT of food, everyone was very generous and brought a lot of stuff with them.


The groups sort of stayed seperate, but everyone mingled and had a good time. I didn't even feel stressed since everything was done ahead of time.


Off to find my thank you cards and get those written.



You can Google Rob Your Neighbor and it gives instructions, it was FUN!

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

Glad it went well! We had our Christmas party last night and since it was good weather, we had over 50 people come and go. I love to have parties! I make it easy. We do margaritas (DH mans the blenders) and I make a few appetizers. Everyone who comes brings an appetizer or dessert to share. We end up with the best food and it's not as stressful as doing it all yourself. We play music in the background softly, put a heater on the deck (for the smokers who go out) and chat, chat, chat. Our parties are "no kid" though. We don't have room for kids with all the adults and I don't want to wonder if they getting into the booze. We kicked the last people out at 1 (started at 5). My feet still hurt from standing so long LOL

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